(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Oct 2025	17.7	2.625 AU	3.615 AU	13h12m	-13°01'	5.7°	2.1°

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)                : 0.4494430
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0013504
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.42809
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 358.39759
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 52.61997
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 57.54643
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 49.71103
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.76837
            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
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   13 12 47.1   -13 01 27     3.615    2.625    5.7    2.1   232   17.7 
2025-10-18 09:23 UT   13 13 21.2   -13 05 51     3.615    2.626    5.8    2.2   234   17.7 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   13 14 14.2   -13 12 41     3.617    2.628    6.0    2.3   237   17.7 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   13 15 41.3   -13 23 53     3.618    2.631    6.4    2.4   241   17.7 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   13 17 08.3   -13 35 04     3.620    2.634    6.8    2.6   244   17.7 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   13 18 35.3   -13 46 13     3.621    2.637    7.2    2.7   248   17.7 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   13 20 02.3   -13 57 21     3.622    2.640    7.7    2.9   251   17.8 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   13 21 29.1   -14 08 27     3.623    2.643    8.2    3.1   253   17.8 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   13 22 56.0   -14 19 31     3.624    2.646    8.7    3.3   255   17.8 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   13 24 22.7   -14 30 34     3.625    2.648    9.2    3.4   257   17.8 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   13 25 49.4   -14 41 35     3.626    2.651    9.7    3.6   259   17.8 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   13 27 16.0   -14 52 34     3.626    2.654   10.3    3.8   261   17.8 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   13 28 42.6   -15 03 31     3.626    2.657   10.8    4.0   262   17.8 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   13 30 09.1   -15 14 27     3.626    2.660   11.3    4.2   264   17.9 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   13 31 35.5   -15 25 21     3.626    2.663   11.9    4.4   265   17.9 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   13 33 01.8   -15 36 13     3.626    2.665   12.5    4.6   266   17.9 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   13 34 28.1   -15 47 04     3.625    2.668   13.0    4.8   267   17.9 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   13 35 54.2   -15 57 53     3.625    2.671   13.6    5.0   268   17.9 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   13 37 20.3   -16 08 40     3.624    2.674   14.2    5.2   268   17.9 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   13 38 46.4   -16 19 25     3.623    2.676   14.8    5.4   269   17.9 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   13 40 12.3   -16 30 09     3.622    2.679   15.3    5.6   270   17.9 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   13 41 38.2   -16 40 50     3.621    2.682   15.9    5.8   271   18.0 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   13 43 03.9   -16 51 30     3.619    2.684   16.5    6.0   271   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.