(74) Galatea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 Jun 2025	13.8	2.269 AU	3.229 AU	04h22m	+19°34'	15.8°	7.0°
Opposition	15 Jan 2026	12.7	2.777 AU	1.797 AU	07h45m	+14°53'	173.7°	2.2°

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 Galatea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2362803
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7803335
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.07194
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 197.11338
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 174.88453
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 21.84003
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.01075
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.36276
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.64            
        

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
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   04 22 50.7   +19 34 42     3.229    2.269   15.8    7.0   254   13.8 
2025-06-14 14:37 UT   04 24 07.8   +19 37 11     3.228    2.270   16.1    7.1   254   13.8 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   04 24 57.3   +19 38 46     3.228    2.270   16.2    7.2   254   13.8 
2025-06-16 00:00 UT   04 27 03.8   +19 42 43     3.226    2.272   16.7    7.4   254   13.8 
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   04 29 10.2   +19 46 34     3.225    2.274   17.1    7.6   255   13.8 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   04 31 16.5   +19 50 19     3.224    2.276   17.6    7.8   255   13.8 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   04 33 22.7   +19 53 56     3.222    2.278   18.1    7.9   255   13.8 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   04 35 28.7   +19 57 28     3.221    2.280   18.5    8.1   256   13.8 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   04 37 34.6   +20 00 52     3.219    2.282   19.0    8.3   256   13.8 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   04 39 40.4   +20 04 10     3.217    2.284   19.4    8.5   256   13.8 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   04 41 46.0   +20 07 21     3.215    2.286   19.9    8.7   257   13.9 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   04 43 51.4   +20 10 25     3.213    2.288   20.3    8.9   257   13.9 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   04 45 56.7   +20 13 23     3.211    2.290   20.8    9.1   257   13.9 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   04 48 01.8   +20 16 14     3.209    2.292   21.3    9.3   257   13.9 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   04 50 06.7   +20 18 59     3.207    2.294   21.7    9.4   258   13.9 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   04 52 11.5   +20 21 37     3.205    2.296   22.2    9.6   258   13.9 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   04 54 16.0   +20 24 08     3.202    2.298   22.7    9.8   258   13.9 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   04 56 20.3   +20 26 32     3.200    2.300   23.1   10.0   259   13.9 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   04 58 24.5   +20 28 50     3.197    2.302   23.6   10.2   259   13.9 

    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.