(61) Danae
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Feb 2025	13.2	2.680 AU	3.543 AU	20h05m	-30°21'	24.9°	8.9°
Opposition	1 Sep 2025	10.8	2.499 AU	1.490 AU	22h38m	-05°15'	176.9°	1.2°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Danae are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1641021
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.9858641
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.20303
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 333.54969
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 12.86276
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 294.00688
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 345.78863
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.98769
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.16            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-02-09 00:00 UT   20 05 48.8   -30 21 13     3.543    2.680   24.9    8.9   236   13.2 
2025-02-09 03:40 UT   20 06 06.6   -30 20 08     3.542    2.680   24.9    8.9   236   13.2 
2025-02-10 00:00 UT   20 07 44.9   -30 14 09     3.537    2.679   25.4    9.1   236   13.2 
2025-02-11 00:00 UT   20 09 40.7   -30 07 02     3.530    2.677   25.9    9.3   237   13.2 
2025-02-12 00:00 UT   20 11 36.1   -29 59 50     3.524    2.676   26.4    9.4   237   13.2 
2025-02-13 00:00 UT   20 13 31.2   -29 52 35     3.517    2.674   26.9    9.6   237   13.2 
2025-02-14 00:00 UT   20 15 26.0   -29 45 16     3.510    2.673   27.5    9.8   238   13.3 
2025-02-15 00:00 UT   20 17 20.4   -29 37 53     3.503    2.672   28.0   10.0   238   13.3 
2025-02-16 00:00 UT   20 19 14.5   -29 30 27     3.496    2.670   28.5   10.2   238   13.3 
2025-02-17 00:00 UT   20 21 08.3   -29 22 57     3.489    2.669   29.0   10.4   239   13.3 
2025-02-18 00:00 UT   20 23 01.7   -29 15 23     3.482    2.667   29.6   10.5   239   13.3 
2025-02-19 00:00 UT   20 24 54.7   -29 07 46     3.475    2.666   30.1   10.7   239   13.3 
2025-02-20 00:00 UT   20 26 47.4   -29 00 05     3.467    2.665   30.6   10.9   240   13.3 
2025-02-21 00:00 UT   20 28 39.7   -28 52 20     3.460    2.663   31.2   11.1   240   13.3 
2025-02-22 00:00 UT   20 30 31.7   -28 44 33     3.452    2.662   31.7   11.3   240   13.3 
2025-02-23 00:00 UT   20 32 23.3   -28 36 42     3.444    2.660   32.2   11.4   240   13.3 
2025-02-24 00:00 UT   20 34 14.5   -28 28 47     3.437    2.659   32.8   11.6   240   13.3 
2025-02-25 00:00 UT   20 36 05.4   -28 20 50     3.429    2.658   33.3   11.8   241   13.3 
2025-02-26 00:00 UT   20 37 55.8   -28 12 49     3.421    2.656   33.9   12.0   241   13.3 
2025-02-27 00:00 UT   20 39 45.9   -28 04 45     3.412    2.655   34.4   12.2   241   13.3 
2025-02-28 00:00 UT   20 41 35.5   -27 56 38     3.404    2.654   34.9   12.3   241   13.3 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.