(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	30 Sep 2026	18.1	2.694 AU	3.179 AU	15h26m	-33°37'	52.8°	17.2°

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)                : 0.4492205
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0015735
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.42561
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 358.39098
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 52.62893
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 196.79352
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 49.71387
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.76812
            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
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   15 26 59.0   -33 37 27     3.179    2.694   52.8   17.2   116   18.1 
2026-09-30 13:07 UT   15 27 49.7   -33 38 49     3.183    2.692   52.4   17.1   116   18.1 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   15 28 31.9   -33 39 58     3.187    2.691   52.2   17.1   116   18.1 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   15 30 05.4   -33 42 30     3.194    2.688   51.5   17.0   116   18.1 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   15 31 39.6   -33 45 03     3.202    2.686   50.9   16.8   116   18.1 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   15 33 14.4   -33 47 36     3.210    2.683   50.3   16.7   116   18.1 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   15 34 49.9   -33 50 11     3.217    2.680   49.7   16.5   116   18.1 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   15 36 26.0   -33 52 47     3.224    2.678   49.1   16.4   117   18.1 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   15 38 02.8   -33 55 23     3.231    2.675   48.4   16.2   117   18.1 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   15 39 40.2   -33 57 60     3.239    2.672   47.8   16.1   117   18.1 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   15 41 18.3   -34 00 37     3.245    2.670   47.2   15.9   117   18.1 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   15 42 56.9   -34 03 15     3.252    2.667   46.6   15.8   117   18.1 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   15 44 36.3   -34 05 53     3.259    2.664   46.0   15.6   117   18.1 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   15 46 16.2   -34 08 31     3.266    2.661   45.4   15.5   117   18.1 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   15 47 56.8   -34 11 09     3.272    2.658   44.8   15.3   117   18.1 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   15 49 37.9   -34 13 47     3.278    2.656   44.2   15.2   117   18.1 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   15 51 19.7   -34 16 25     3.284    2.653   43.6   15.0   118   18.1 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   15 53 02.1   -34 19 03     3.290    2.650   43.0   14.9   118   18.1 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   15 54 45.0   -34 21 41     3.296    2.647   42.4   14.7   118   18.1 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   15 56 28.6   -34 24 18     3.302    2.644   41.8   14.6   118   18.1 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   15 58 12.7   -34 26 54     3.308    2.641   41.2   14.4   118   18.1 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   15 59 57.4   -34 29 30     3.313    2.638   40.6   14.2   118   18.1 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   16 01 42.7   -34 32 05     3.319    2.635   40.0   14.1   118   18.0 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   16 03 28.5   -34 34 40     3.324    2.632   39.5   13.9   119   18.0 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   16 05 14.9   -34 37 13     3.329    2.629   38.9   13.7   119   18.0 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   16 07 01.9   -34 39 46     3.334    2.626   38.3   13.6   119   18.0 

    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.