(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Mar 2026	17.6	2.892 AU	2.332 AU	15h50m	-36°27'	114.6°	18.2°

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 Eric are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.4493641
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0013784
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.42719
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 358.39637
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 52.62293
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 127.17485
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 49.71295
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.76823
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.83            
        

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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   15 50 26.6   -36 27 10     2.332    2.892  114.6   18.2   290   17.6 
2026-03-20 08:03 UT   15 50 22.9   -36 29 38     2.328    2.892  114.9   18.2   290   17.6 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   15 50 15.0   -36 34 30     2.320    2.893  115.5   18.1   291   17.6 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   15 50 01.4   -36 41 47     2.308    2.893  116.5   18.0   291   17.6 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   15 49 45.9   -36 48 59     2.296    2.894  117.4   17.8   292   17.6 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   15 49 28.3   -36 56 08     2.284    2.894  118.4   17.6   292   17.6 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   15 49 08.7   -37 03 12     2.273    2.895  119.3   17.5   293   17.6 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   15 48 47.2   -37 10 12     2.261    2.895  120.3   17.3   293   17.5 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   15 48 23.6   -37 17 07     2.250    2.895  121.2   17.1   294   17.5 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   15 47 58.0   -37 23 56     2.238    2.896  122.2   17.0   294   17.5 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   15 47 30.3   -37 30 41     2.227    2.896  123.2   16.8   295   17.5 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   15 47 00.6   -37 37 19     2.216    2.897  124.1   16.6   295   17.5 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   15 46 28.9   -37 43 52     2.205    2.897  125.1   16.4   296   17.5 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   15 45 55.1   -37 50 19     2.194    2.897  126.1   16.2   297   17.4 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   15 45 19.2   -37 56 39     2.184    2.898  127.0   16.0   297   17.4 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   15 44 41.3   -38 02 52     2.173    2.898  128.0   15.8   298   17.4 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   15 44 01.3   -38 08 58     2.163    2.898  129.0   15.6   299   17.4 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   15 43 19.3   -38 14 57     2.153    2.899  130.0   15.3   299   17.4 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   15 42 35.2   -38 20 47     2.143    2.899  130.9   15.1   300   17.4 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   15 41 49.0   -38 26 30     2.133    2.899  131.9   14.9   301   17.3 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   15 41 00.8   -38 32 03     2.124    2.899  132.9   14.7   302   17.3 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   15 40 10.6   -38 37 28     2.114    2.899  133.9   14.4   303   17.3 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   15 39 18.4   -38 42 44     2.105    2.900  134.8   14.2   304   17.3 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   15 38 24.2   -38 47 49     2.096    2.900  135.8   13.9   305   17.3 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   15 37 28.0   -38 52 45     2.087    2.900  136.8   13.7   306   17.2 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   15 36 29.8   -38 57 30     2.079    2.900  137.7   13.4   307   17.2 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   15 35 29.8   -39 02 05     2.070    2.900  138.7   13.2   308   17.2 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   15 34 27.8   -39 06 28     2.062    2.900  139.7   12.9   309   17.2 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   15 33 24.0   -39 10 39     2.054    2.900  140.6   12.7   310   17.2 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   15 32 18.4   -39 14 39     2.046    2.901  141.6   12.4   311   17.2 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   15 31 11.0   -39 18 26     2.039    2.901  142.5   12.2   313   17.1 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   15 30 01.9   -39 22 01     2.032    2.901  143.4   11.9   314   17.1 

    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.