(8) Flora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	9 Jul 2026	8.9	2.263 AU	1.247 AU	19h15m	-21°37'	179.2°	0.4°
Today	24 Aug 2026	10.1	2.182 AU	1.402 AU	18h40m	-24°38'	128.7°	21.2°

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 Flora are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1561964
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2015606
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.89032
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.84335
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 285.40831
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 259.26212
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.32953
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.67789
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.27            
        

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
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   18 40 46.8   -24 38 53     1.402    2.182  128.7   21.2    85   10.1 
2026-08-24 08:54 UT   18 40 45.5   -24 39 45     1.405    2.181  128.4   21.3    85   10.1 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   18 40 44.0   -24 41 12     1.409    2.180  127.8   21.5    85   10.1 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   18 40 43.4   -24 43 28     1.417    2.178  126.8   21.8    85   10.1 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   18 40 45.1   -24 45 38     1.425    2.177  125.8   22.1    85   10.1 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   18 40 48.9   -24 47 45     1.433    2.175  124.9   22.4    85   10.2 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   18 40 54.9   -24 49 48     1.441    2.173  123.9   22.7    85   10.2 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   18 41 03.1   -24 51 46     1.449    2.171  123.0   23.0    85   10.2 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   18 41 13.5   -24 53 40     1.457    2.169  122.1   23.2    85   10.2 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   18 41 26.0   -24 55 30     1.466    2.167  121.1   23.5    85   10.2 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   18 41 40.6   -24 57 16     1.474    2.166  120.2   23.7    85   10.2 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   18 41 57.4   -24 58 58     1.483    2.164  119.3   24.0    85   10.3 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   18 42 16.3   -25 00 36     1.491    2.162  118.4   24.2    85   10.3 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   18 42 37.3   -25 02 09     1.500    2.160  117.5   24.5    85   10.3 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   18 43 00.3   -25 03 38     1.509    2.158  116.7   24.7    85   10.3 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   18 43 25.4   -25 05 03     1.518    2.156  115.8   24.9    85   10.3 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   18 43 52.6   -25 06 24     1.527    2.155  114.9   25.1    85   10.4 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   18 44 21.8   -25 07 41     1.536    2.153  114.0   25.3    85   10.4 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   18 44 53.0   -25 08 53     1.545    2.151  113.2   25.5    85   10.4 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   18 45 26.3   -25 10 02     1.554    2.149  112.3   25.7    85   10.4 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   18 46 01.5   -25 11 05     1.563    2.147  111.5   25.9    85   10.4 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   18 46 38.6   -25 12 05     1.573    2.145  110.7   26.0    85   10.4 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   18 47 17.7   -25 13 00     1.582    2.144  109.8   26.2    85   10.5 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   18 47 58.7   -25 13 51     1.591    2.142  109.0   26.4    84   10.5 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   18 48 41.6   -25 14 37     1.601    2.140  108.2   26.5    84   10.5 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   18 49 26.3   -25 15 19     1.610    2.138  107.4   26.7    84   10.5 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   18 50 12.9   -25 15 56     1.620    2.136  106.6   26.8    84   10.5 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   18 51 01.3   -25 16 29     1.629    2.134  105.8   26.9    84   10.5 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   18 51 51.4   -25 16 57     1.639    2.133  105.0   27.1    84   10.5 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   18 52 43.3   -25 17 21     1.649    2.131  104.2   27.2    84   10.6 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   18 53 36.9   -25 17 40     1.658    2.129  103.4   27.3    84   10.6 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   18 54 32.3   -25 17 54     1.668    2.127  102.7   27.4    84   10.6 

    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.