(74) Galatea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 Dec 2025	13.2	2.702 AU	1.860 AU	08h11m	+13°58'	141.7°	13.1°
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
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   08 11 01.1   +13 58 34     1.860    2.702  141.7   13.1   290   13.2 
2025-12-16 06:36 UT   08 10 51.8   +13 58 41     1.859    2.703  142.0   13.0   290   13.2 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   08 10 26.7   +13 58 59     1.854    2.705  142.8   12.7   290   13.2 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   08 09 50.9   +13 59 31     1.849    2.707  143.9   12.4   291   13.2 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   08 09 13.6   +14 00 09     1.843    2.710  145.1   12.0   291   13.1 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   08 08 35.0   +14 00 54     1.838    2.712  146.2   11.6   291   13.1 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   08 07 54.9   +14 01 45     1.833    2.715  147.4   11.3   292   13.1 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   08 07 13.4   +14 02 42     1.829    2.717  148.6   10.9   292   13.1 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   08 06 30.7   +14 03 46     1.824    2.720  149.7   10.5   293   13.1 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   08 05 46.7   +14 04 57     1.820    2.722  150.9   10.1   293   13.0 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   08 05 01.5   +14 06 13     1.816    2.724  152.1    9.7   294   13.0 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   08 04 15.1   +14 07 35     1.813    2.727  153.2    9.4   294   13.0 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   08 03 27.6   +14 09 04     1.809    2.729  154.4    9.0   295   13.0 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   08 02 39.0   +14 10 38     1.806    2.732  155.6    8.6   295   13.0 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   08 01 49.4   +14 12 17     1.803    2.734  156.7    8.2   296   13.0 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   08 00 58.8   +14 14 02     1.801    2.737  157.9    7.8   297   12.9 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   08 00 07.3   +14 15 52     1.798    2.739  159.1    7.4   298   12.9 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   07 59 15.0   +14 17 48     1.796    2.742  160.3    7.0   299   12.9 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   07 58 21.8   +14 19 48     1.794    2.744  161.4    6.6   300   12.9 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   07 57 28.0   +14 21 53     1.793    2.747  162.6    6.1   302   12.9 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   07 56 33.4   +14 24 03     1.791    2.749  163.7    5.7   303   12.8 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   07 55 38.2   +14 26 18     1.790    2.752  164.9    5.3   305   12.8 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   07 54 42.4   +14 28 36     1.790    2.754  166.0    5.0   307   12.8 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   07 53 46.2   +14 30 59     1.789    2.757  167.1    4.6   309   12.8 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   07 52 49.4   +14 33 26     1.789    2.759  168.2    4.2   312   12.8 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   07 51 52.3   +14 35 56     1.789    2.762  169.2    3.8   316   12.7 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   07 50 54.9   +14 38 30     1.790    2.764  170.2    3.5   320   12.7 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   07 49 57.3   +14 41 08     1.791    2.766  171.1    3.1   325   12.7 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   07 48 59.4   +14 43 49     1.792    2.769  172.0    2.8   332   12.7 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   07 48 01.5   +14 46 33     1.793    2.771  172.7    2.6   339   12.7 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   07 47 03.5   +14 49 20     1.795    2.774  173.3    2.4   348   12.7 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   07 46 05.5   +14 52 09     1.796    2.776  173.6    2.2   359   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.