(74) Galatea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	17 Oct 2025	14.0	2.552 AU	2.426 AU	07h56m	+16°28'	85.6°	22.9°
Opposition	15 Jan 2026	12.7	2.778 AU	1.798 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)                : 0.2367976
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7822171
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.07078
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 197.07419
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 174.99661
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 64.23604
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.08336
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.35474
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-17 00:00 UT   07 56 35.9   +16 28 22     2.426    2.552   85.6   22.9   281   14.0 
2025-10-17 01:26 UT   07 56 39.3   +16 28 07     2.426    2.552   85.6   22.9   281   14.0 
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   07 57 32.8   +16 24 02     2.416    2.554   86.4   22.9   281   14.0 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   07 58 28.6   +16 19 44     2.405    2.557   87.1   22.9   281   14.0 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   07 59 23.1   +16 15 27     2.394    2.559   87.9   22.9   281   14.0 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   08 00 16.4   +16 11 12     2.384    2.562   88.6   22.9   281   13.9 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   08 01 08.5   +16 06 58     2.373    2.564   89.4   22.8   282   13.9 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   08 01 59.4   +16 02 46     2.362    2.567   90.2   22.8   282   13.9 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   08 02 49.0   +15 58 37     2.352    2.569   91.0   22.8   282   13.9 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   08 03 37.4   +15 54 29     2.341    2.572   91.8   22.7   282   13.9 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   08 04 24.4   +15 50 24     2.330    2.574   92.6   22.7   282   13.9 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   08 05 10.2   +15 46 21     2.319    2.577   93.4   22.6   282   13.9 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   08 05 54.6   +15 42 21     2.309    2.579   94.2   22.6   282   13.9 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   08 06 37.7   +15 38 23     2.298    2.582   95.0   22.5   282   13.9 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   08 07 19.5   +15 34 28     2.287    2.584   95.8   22.5   283   13.9 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   08 07 59.9   +15 30 36     2.277    2.587   96.6   22.4   283   13.9 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   08 08 39.0   +15 26 47     2.266    2.589   97.5   22.3   283   13.8 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   08 09 16.6   +15 23 01     2.255    2.592   98.3   22.3   283   13.8 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   08 09 52.9   +15 19 19     2.245    2.594   99.1   22.2   283   13.8 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   08 10 27.8   +15 15 39     2.234    2.597  100.0   22.1   283   13.8 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   08 11 01.2   +15 12 04     2.223    2.599  100.8   22.0   283   13.8 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   08 11 33.3   +15 08 32     2.213    2.602  101.7   21.9   283   13.8 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   08 12 03.8   +15 05 03     2.202    2.604  102.6   21.8   284   13.8 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   08 12 32.9   +15 01 39     2.192    2.607  103.4   21.7   284   13.8 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   08 13 00.5   +14 58 18     2.181    2.609  104.3   21.6   284   13.8 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   08 13 26.6   +14 55 02     2.171    2.612  105.2   21.5   284   13.7 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   08 13 51.2   +14 51 49     2.161    2.614  106.1   21.3   284   13.7 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   08 14 14.3   +14 48 42     2.150    2.617  107.0   21.2   284   13.7 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   08 14 35.8   +14 45 38     2.140    2.619  107.9   21.1   284   13.7 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   08 14 55.7   +14 42 40     2.130    2.622  108.8   20.9   285   13.7 
2025-11-15 00:00 UT   08 15 14.1   +14 39 46     2.120    2.624  109.7   20.8   285   13.7 
2025-11-16 00:00 UT   08 15 30.8   +14 36 57     2.110    2.627  110.7   20.6   285   13.7 

    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.