(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Jun 2026	12.1	3.269 AU	3.550 AU	01h40m	-05°12'	65.9°	16.5°
Opposition	16 Oct 2026	10.8	3.230 AU	2.290 AU	02h02m	-12°20'	156.8°	7.0°

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 Herculina are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1803914
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7695624
            i (Inclination)                 : 16.29891
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.40837
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 76.65936
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 179.25146
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 183.53031
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.84735
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.61            
        

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
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   01 40 56.8   -05 12 60     3.550    3.269   65.9   16.5   241   12.1 
2026-06-18 18:29 UT   01 41 43.9   -05 11 20     3.541    3.269   66.4   16.5   242   12.1 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   01 41 58.0   -05 10 51     3.538    3.269   66.6   16.6   242   12.1 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   01 42 58.7   -05 08 49     3.525    3.269   67.2   16.7   242   12.1 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   01 43 58.9   -05 06 52     3.513    3.269   67.9   16.7   242   12.1 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   01 44 58.7   -05 05 01     3.500    3.269   68.6   16.8   242   12.1 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   01 45 58.0   -05 03 16     3.487    3.269   69.3   16.9   243   12.1 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   01 46 56.8   -05 01 37     3.474    3.269   70.0   17.0   243   12.1 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   01 47 55.1   -05 00 04     3.462    3.269   70.7   17.1   243   12.1 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   01 48 52.9   -04 58 38     3.449    3.269   71.4   17.1   243   12.1 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   01 49 50.2   -04 57 17     3.436    3.269   72.0   17.2   244   12.1 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   01 50 47.0   -04 56 02     3.423    3.269   72.7   17.3   244   12.1 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   01 51 43.2   -04 54 54     3.410    3.268   73.4   17.3   244   12.1 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   01 52 38.9   -04 53 52     3.397    3.268   74.1   17.4   244   12.1 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   01 53 34.1   -04 52 56     3.383    3.268   74.8   17.5   244   12.1 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   01 54 28.7   -04 52 06     3.370    3.268   75.5   17.5   245   12.0 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   01 55 22.8   -04 51 23     3.357    3.268   76.3   17.6   245   12.0 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   01 56 16.2   -04 50 46     3.344    3.268   77.0   17.6   245   12.0 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   01 57 09.1   -04 50 16     3.330    3.268   77.7   17.7   245   12.0 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   01 58 01.4   -04 49 52     3.317    3.268   78.4   17.7   246   12.0 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   01 58 53.1   -04 49 35     3.303    3.268   79.1   17.8   246   12.0 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   01 59 44.1   -04 49 24     3.290    3.268   79.8   17.8   246   12.0 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   02 00 34.6   -04 49 20     3.276    3.267   80.6   17.9   246   12.0 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   02 01 24.4   -04 49 23     3.263    3.267   81.3   17.9   247   12.0 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   02 02 13.5   -04 49 33     3.249    3.267   82.0   17.9   247   12.0 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   02 03 02.0   -04 49 50     3.236    3.267   82.7   18.0   247   12.0 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   02 03 49.7   -04 50 13     3.222    3.267   83.5   18.0   247   12.0 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   02 04 36.8   -04 50 43     3.209    3.267   84.2   18.0   248   12.0 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   02 05 23.2   -04 51 20     3.195    3.267   85.0   18.1   248   11.9 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   02 06 08.9   -04 52 05     3.181    3.266   85.7   18.1   248   11.9 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   02 06 53.8   -04 52 56     3.168    3.266   86.4   18.1   248   11.9 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   02 07 38.0   -04 53 54     3.154    3.266   87.2   18.1   249   11.9 

    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.