(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Jul 2025	17.5	2.249 AU	2.746 AU	10h46m	+07°00'	50.9°	20.5°

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. 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
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   10 46 57.4   +07 00 02     2.746    2.249   50.9   20.5   113   17.5 
2025-07-12 06:01 UT   10 47 20.6   +06 56 45     2.750    2.250   50.8   20.5   113   17.5 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   10 48 29.9   +06 46 55     2.761    2.254   50.4   20.3   113   17.5 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   10 50 02.3   +06 33 48     2.775    2.258   49.9   20.1   113   17.5 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   10 51 34.5   +06 20 43     2.789    2.263   49.4   19.9   113   17.6 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   10 53 06.6   +06 07 39     2.803    2.267   48.9   19.7   113   17.6 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   10 54 38.7   +05 54 36     2.817    2.272   48.3   19.5   113   17.6 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   10 56 10.6   +05 41 34     2.831    2.277   47.8   19.3   113   17.6 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   10 57 42.5   +05 28 33     2.844    2.281   47.3   19.1   114   17.6 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   10 59 14.3   +05 15 33     2.858    2.286   46.8   18.9   114   17.6 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   11 00 45.9   +05 02 34     2.872    2.290   46.3   18.7   114   17.6 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   11 02 17.5   +04 49 37     2.885    2.295   45.8   18.5   114   17.6 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   11 03 49.0   +04 36 40     2.899    2.299   45.2   18.3   114   17.6 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   11 05 20.5   +04 23 44     2.912    2.304   44.7   18.1   114   17.6 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   11 06 51.8   +04 10 49     2.925    2.308   44.2   17.9   114   17.6 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   11 08 23.1   +03 57 56     2.938    2.313   43.7   17.7   114   17.6 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   11 09 54.2   +03 45 03     2.951    2.317   43.2   17.4   114   17.7 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   11 11 25.3   +03 32 11     2.964    2.322   42.6   17.2   115   17.7 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   11 12 56.3   +03 19 20     2.977    2.326   42.1   17.0   115   17.7 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   11 14 27.2   +03 06 31     2.990    2.330   41.6   16.8   115   17.7 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   11 15 58.1   +02 53 42     3.003    2.335   41.1   16.6   115   17.7 

    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.