(8) Flora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Mar 2026	11.5	2.422 AU	2.351 AU	18h59m	-19°35'	82.0°	24.1°
Opposition	9 Jul 2026	9.0	2.263 AU	1.247 AU	19h15m	-21°37'	179.2°	0.4°

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)                : 0.1563337
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2013072
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.89033
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.84339
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 285.42673
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 198.90077
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.34807
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.67740
            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
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   18 59 23.9   -19 35 27     2.351    2.422   82.0   24.1   265   11.5 
2026-03-27 07:47 UT   18 59 49.2   -19 34 56     2.346    2.422   82.2   24.1   265   11.5 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   19 00 41.7   -19 33 52     2.337    2.421   82.7   24.1   264   11.5 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   19 01 58.7   -19 32 17     2.323    2.420   83.4   24.2   264   11.5 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   19 03 14.9   -19 30 41     2.309    2.418   84.0   24.2   264   11.5 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   19 04 30.3   -19 29 05     2.295    2.417   84.7   24.3   264   11.5 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   19 05 44.8   -19 27 28     2.281    2.416   85.4   24.3   264   11.5 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   19 06 58.5   -19 25 51     2.267    2.415   86.1   24.4   264   11.4 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   19 08 11.3   -19 24 13     2.253    2.413   86.8   24.4   263   11.4 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   19 09 23.3   -19 22 35     2.239    2.412   87.5   24.5   263   11.4 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   19 10 34.3   -19 20 57     2.225    2.411   88.2   24.5   263   11.4 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   19 11 44.5   -19 19 19     2.211    2.409   88.9   24.5   263   11.4 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   19 12 53.7   -19 17 42     2.197    2.408   89.6   24.6   263   11.4 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   19 14 02.0   -19 16 05     2.183    2.407   90.3   24.6   263   11.4 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   19 15 09.3   -19 14 28     2.169    2.405   91.1   24.6   263   11.3 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   19 16 15.6   -19 12 51     2.155    2.404   91.8   24.6   262   11.3 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   19 17 21.0   -19 11 16     2.141    2.403   92.5   24.6   262   11.3 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   19 18 25.3   -19 09 41     2.127    2.401   93.2   24.6   262   11.3 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   19 19 28.6   -19 08 07     2.113    2.400   94.0   24.6   262   11.3 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   19 20 30.8   -19 06 35     2.099    2.399   94.7   24.6   262   11.3 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   19 21 32.0   -19 05 04     2.085    2.397   95.4   24.6   262   11.3 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   19 22 32.1   -19 03 34     2.071    2.396   96.2   24.6   262   11.2 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   19 23 31.1   -19 02 05     2.057    2.394   96.9   24.6   261   11.2 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   19 24 28.9   -19 00 39     2.043    2.393   97.7   24.6   261   11.2 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   19 25 25.6   -18 59 14     2.029    2.392   98.4   24.5   261   11.2 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   19 26 21.1   -18 57 51     2.015    2.390   99.2   24.5   261   11.2 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   19 27 15.5   -18 56 31     2.001    2.389   99.9   24.5   261   11.2 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   19 28 08.6   -18 55 12     1.987    2.388  100.7   24.4   261   11.1 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   19 29 00.6   -18 53 56     1.974    2.386  101.5   24.4   261   11.1 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   19 29 51.3   -18 52 43     1.960    2.385  102.2   24.3   261   11.1 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   19 30 40.8   -18 51 33     1.946    2.383  103.0   24.3   261   11.1 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   19 31 29.0   -18 50 25     1.932    2.382  103.8   24.2   260   11.1 

    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.