(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Aug 2026	17.9	2.819 AU	2.548 AU	14h18m	-32°49'	94.8°	21.0°

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
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   14 18 40.4   -32 49 07     2.548    2.819   94.8   21.0   109   17.9 
2026-08-01 10:09 UT   14 18 56.6   -32 48 18     2.553    2.819   94.4   21.0   109   17.9 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   14 19 19.1   -32 47 14     2.559    2.818   94.0   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   14 19 59.1   -32 45 28     2.571    2.816   93.2   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   14 20 40.3   -32 43 49     2.583    2.815   92.4   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   14 21 22.8   -32 42 17     2.595    2.813   91.6   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   14 22 06.4   -32 40 53     2.607    2.811   90.8   21.1   110   17.9 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   14 22 51.3   -32 39 35     2.619    2.809   90.1   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   14 23 37.3   -32 38 25     2.631    2.808   89.3   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   14 24 24.5   -32 37 21     2.643    2.806   88.5   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   14 25 12.9   -32 36 24     2.654    2.804   87.8   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   14 26 02.3   -32 35 34     2.666    2.803   87.0   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   14 26 53.0   -32 34 50     2.678    2.801   86.3   21.2   111   18.0 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   14 27 44.7   -32 34 13     2.690    2.799   85.5   21.2   111   18.0 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   14 28 37.5   -32 33 43     2.701    2.797   84.8   21.1   111   18.0 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   14 29 31.4   -32 33 18     2.713    2.795   84.0   21.1   111   18.0 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   14 30 26.3   -32 33 00     2.725    2.793   83.3   21.1   111   18.0 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   14 31 22.4   -32 32 48     2.736    2.792   82.5   21.1   111   18.0 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   14 32 19.4   -32 32 42     2.748    2.790   81.8   21.0   112   18.0 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   14 33 17.5   -32 32 43     2.760    2.788   81.1   21.0   112   18.0 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   14 34 16.5   -32 32 48     2.771    2.786   80.3   21.0   112   18.0 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   14 35 16.6   -32 32 60     2.782    2.784   79.6   20.9   112   18.0 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   14 36 17.6   -32 33 17     2.794    2.782   78.9   20.9   112   18.0 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   14 37 19.6   -32 33 40     2.805    2.780   78.2   20.9   112   18.0 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   14 38 22.6   -32 34 08     2.816    2.778   77.5   20.8   112   18.0 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   14 39 26.5   -32 34 41     2.828    2.776   76.7   20.8   112   18.0 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   14 40 31.3   -32 35 19     2.839    2.774   76.0   20.7   113   18.0 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   14 41 37.0   -32 36 02     2.850    2.772   75.3   20.6   113   18.0 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   14 42 43.7   -32 36 51     2.861    2.770   74.6   20.6   113   18.1 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   14 43 51.2   -32 37 44     2.872    2.768   73.9   20.5   113   18.1 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   14 44 59.6   -32 38 41     2.883    2.766   73.2   20.5   113   18.1 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   14 46 08.9   -32 39 43     2.894    2.764   72.5   20.4   113   18.1 

    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.