(74) Galatea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Sep 2025	14.1	2.473 AU	2.745 AU	07h17m	+18°46'	63.8°	21.4°
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) : 197.11339
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 174.88453
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 21.84003
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.01076
            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
2025-09-15 00:00 UT   07 17 14.1   +18 46 57     2.745    2.473   63.8   21.4   276   14.1 
2025-09-15 20:45 UT   07 18 30.0   +18 43 28     2.738    2.475   64.4   21.5   276   14.1 
2025-09-16 00:00 UT   07 18 41.8   +18 42 55     2.736    2.475   64.5   21.5   276   14.1 
2025-09-17 00:00 UT   07 20 08.7   +18 38 51     2.727    2.478   65.1   21.6   276   14.1 
2025-09-18 00:00 UT   07 21 34.9   +18 34 45     2.718    2.480   65.7   21.7   276   14.1 
2025-09-19 00:00 UT   07 23 00.2   +18 30 36     2.709    2.482   66.3   21.8   277   14.1 
2025-09-20 00:00 UT   07 24 24.7   +18 26 26     2.699    2.485   67.0   21.8   277   14.1 
2025-09-21 00:00 UT   07 25 48.4   +18 22 14     2.690    2.487   67.6   21.9   277   14.1 
2025-09-22 00:00 UT   07 27 11.2   +18 18 00     2.680    2.490   68.3   22.0   277   14.1 
2025-09-23 00:00 UT   07 28 33.2   +18 13 45     2.671    2.492   68.9   22.1   277   14.1 
2025-09-24 00:00 UT   07 29 54.3   +18 09 28     2.661    2.495   69.6   22.1   277   14.1 
2025-09-25 00:00 UT   07 31 14.5   +18 05 10     2.651    2.497   70.2   22.2   278   14.1 
2025-09-26 00:00 UT   07 32 33.8   +18 00 51     2.642    2.500   70.9   22.3   278   14.1 
2025-09-27 00:00 UT   07 33 52.3   +17 56 30     2.632    2.502   71.5   22.3   278   14.1 
2025-09-28 00:00 UT   07 35 09.8   +17 52 09     2.622    2.504   72.2   22.4   278   14.1 
2025-09-29 00:00 UT   07 36 26.4   +17 47 46     2.612    2.507   72.9   22.5   278   14.1 
2025-09-30 00:00 UT   07 37 42.1   +17 43 23     2.602    2.509   73.5   22.5   278   14.1 
2025-10-01 00:00 UT   07 38 56.9   +17 38 59     2.592    2.512   74.2   22.6   279   14.1 
2025-10-02 00:00 UT   07 40 10.6   +17 34 34     2.582    2.514   74.9   22.6   279   14.1 
2025-10-03 00:00 UT   07 41 23.5   +17 30 09     2.572    2.517   75.6   22.6   279   14.1 
2025-10-04 00:00 UT   07 42 35.3   +17 25 43     2.562    2.519   76.3   22.7   279   14.1 
2025-10-05 00:00 UT   07 43 46.2   +17 21 17     2.552    2.522   76.9   22.7   279   14.1 
2025-10-06 00:00 UT   07 44 56.1   +17 16 51     2.541    2.524   77.6   22.8   279   14.1 
2025-10-07 00:00 UT   07 46 05.0   +17 12 25     2.531    2.527   78.3   22.8   279   14.0 
2025-10-08 00:00 UT   07 47 12.9   +17 07 58     2.521    2.529   79.1   22.8   280   14.0 
2025-10-09 00:00 UT   07 48 19.7   +17 03 32     2.510    2.532   79.8   22.9   280   14.0 
2025-10-10 00:00 UT   07 49 25.5   +16 59 06     2.500    2.534   80.5   22.9   280   14.0 
2025-10-11 00:00 UT   07 50 30.3   +16 54 40     2.490    2.537   81.2   22.9   280   14.0 
2025-10-12 00:00 UT   07 51 33.9   +16 50 15     2.479    2.539   81.9   22.9   280   14.0 

    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.