(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 May 2025	12.7	3.071 AU	3.847 AU	01h56m	+05°57'	34.8°	10.9°
Opposition	14 Nov 2025	10.7	2.888 AU	1.911 AU	03h32m	+07°45'	169.0°	3.8°

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 Europa are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1118221
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0916616
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.48093
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 128.58150
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 343.00476
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 276.20584
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 111.72268
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.18094
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.44            
        

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
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   01 56 47.3   +05 57 48     3.847    3.071   34.8   10.9   241   12.7 
2025-05-25 07:10 UT   01 57 11.8   +05 59 44     3.845    3.071   35.0   10.9   242   12.7 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   01 58 09.4   +06 04 16     3.839    3.070   35.4   11.0   242   12.7 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   01 59 31.3   +06 10 41     3.830    3.069   36.0   11.2   242   12.7 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   02 00 53.0   +06 17 03     3.821    3.068   36.6   11.4   242   12.7 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   02 02 14.7   +06 23 21     3.812    3.067   37.2   11.5   242   12.7 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   02 03 36.3   +06 29 37     3.802    3.065   37.8   11.7   243   12.7 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   02 04 57.7   +06 35 49     3.793    3.064   38.4   11.9   243   12.7 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   02 06 19.0   +06 41 58     3.784    3.063   39.0   12.0   243   12.7 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   02 07 40.2   +06 48 03     3.774    3.062   39.6   12.2   243   12.7 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   02 09 01.2   +06 54 06     3.765    3.061   40.2   12.4   243   12.7 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   02 10 22.1   +07 00 04     3.755    3.060   40.8   12.5   244   12.7 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   02 11 42.8   +07 05 59     3.745    3.059   41.4   12.7   244   12.7 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   02 13 03.4   +07 11 51     3.735    3.058   42.0   12.8   244   12.7 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   02 14 23.9   +07 17 40     3.725    3.057   42.6   13.0   244   12.7 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   02 15 44.1   +07 23 24     3.715    3.056   43.2   13.2   244   12.7 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   02 17 04.3   +07 29 06     3.704    3.054   43.9   13.3   245   12.7 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   02 18 24.2   +07 34 43     3.694    3.053   44.5   13.5   245   12.7 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   02 19 44.0   +07 40 17     3.683    3.052   45.1   13.6   245   12.7 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   02 21 03.6   +07 45 48     3.673    3.051   45.7   13.8   245   12.7 
2025-06-13 00:00 UT   02 22 23.1   +07 51 15     3.662    3.050   46.3   13.9   245   12.7 
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   02 23 42.3   +07 56 38     3.651    3.049   46.9   14.1   245   12.7 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   02 25 01.4   +08 01 57     3.640    3.048   47.5   14.2   246   12.7 
2025-06-16 00:00 UT   02 26 20.2   +08 07 13     3.629    3.047   48.1   14.4   246   12.7 
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   02 27 38.9   +08 12 25     3.618    3.046   48.7   14.5   246   12.7 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   02 28 57.4   +08 17 33     3.607    3.045   49.4   14.7   246   12.7 

    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.