(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Apr 2025	12.6	3.102 AU	4.041 AU	01h18m	+02°38'	18.4°	5.9°
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) : 128.58151
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 343.00476
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 276.20583
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 111.72269
            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
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   01 18 04.1   +02 38 12     4.041    3.102   18.4    5.9   232   12.6 
2025-04-27 08:23 UT   01 18 33.2   +02 40 53     4.039    3.101   18.6    5.9   232   12.6 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   01 19 27.6   +02 45 52     4.036    3.101   18.9    6.0   233   12.6 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   01 20 51.1   +02 53 30     4.030    3.099   19.5    6.2   233   12.6 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   01 22 14.6   +03 01 06     4.025    3.098   20.1    6.4   234   12.6 
2025-05-01 00:00 UT   01 23 38.1   +03 08 39     4.019    3.097   20.7    6.6   234   12.6 
2025-05-02 00:00 UT   01 25 01.5   +03 16 11     4.014    3.096   21.3    6.8   234   12.6 
2025-05-03 00:00 UT   01 26 24.9   +03 23 40     4.008    3.095   21.8    7.0   235   12.6 
2025-05-04 00:00 UT   01 27 48.3   +03 31 07     4.002    3.094   22.4    7.1   235   12.6 
2025-05-05 00:00 UT   01 29 11.6   +03 38 31     3.996    3.093   23.0    7.3   236   12.7 
2025-05-06 00:00 UT   01 30 34.9   +03 45 53     3.990    3.092   23.6    7.5   236   12.7 
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   01 31 58.2   +03 53 13     3.983    3.091   24.2    7.7   236   12.7 
2025-05-08 00:00 UT   01 33 21.4   +04 00 31     3.977    3.090   24.8    7.9   237   12.7 
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   01 34 44.6   +04 07 46     3.970    3.088   25.4    8.0   237   12.7 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   01 36 07.7   +04 14 58     3.963    3.087   26.0    8.2   237   12.7 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   01 37 30.8   +04 22 08     3.957    3.086   26.5    8.4   238   12.7 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   01 38 53.8   +04 29 16     3.950    3.085   27.1    8.6   238   12.7 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   01 40 16.8   +04 36 21     3.943    3.084   27.7    8.8   238   12.7 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   01 41 39.7   +04 43 23     3.935    3.083   28.3    8.9   239   12.7 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   01 43 02.6   +04 50 23     3.928    3.082   28.9    9.1   239   12.7 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   01 44 25.4   +04 57 20     3.920    3.081   29.5    9.3   239   12.7 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   01 45 48.1   +05 04 15     3.913    3.080   30.1    9.5   240   12.7 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   01 47 10.8   +05 11 06     3.905    3.079   30.7    9.6   240   12.7 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   01 48 33.4   +05 17 55     3.897    3.078   31.3    9.8   240   12.7 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   01 49 55.9   +05 24 41     3.889    3.076   31.9   10.0   240   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.