(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	5 Feb 2025	11.5	2.726 AU	3.569 AU	19h22m	-20°23'	26.9°	9.4°
Opposition	6 Aug 2025	10.2	3.037 AU	2.036 AU	21h19m	-27°16'	168.9°	3.7°

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)                : 0.1798087
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7701891
            i (Inclination)                 : 16.29752
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.41613
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 76.70893
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 8.22162
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 183.58958
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.84933
            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. 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
2025-02-05 00:00 UT   19 22 10.9   -20 23 02     3.569    2.726   26.9    9.4   265   11.5 
2025-02-05 07:41 UT   19 22 44.1   -20 22 46     3.567    2.727   27.1    9.5   265   11.5 
2025-02-06 00:00 UT   19 23 54.5   -20 22 11     3.564    2.728   27.5    9.6   265   11.5 
2025-02-07 00:00 UT   19 25 37.7   -20 21 17     3.560    2.730   28.1    9.8   265   11.5 
2025-02-08 00:00 UT   19 27 20.5   -20 20 19     3.555    2.732   28.7   10.0   264   11.5 
2025-02-09 00:00 UT   19 29 03.1   -20 19 19     3.551    2.734   29.4   10.2   264   11.5 
2025-02-10 00:00 UT   19 30 45.3   -20 18 15     3.546    2.736   30.0   10.4   264   11.5 
2025-02-11 00:00 UT   19 32 27.1   -20 17 08     3.541    2.738   30.6   10.6   263   11.5 
2025-02-12 00:00 UT   19 34 08.7   -20 15 59     3.536    2.740   31.2   10.8   263   11.5 
2025-02-13 00:00 UT   19 35 49.8   -20 14 47     3.531    2.742   31.8   10.9   263   11.5 
2025-02-14 00:00 UT   19 37 30.7   -20 13 32     3.525    2.743   32.4   11.1   263   11.5 
2025-02-15 00:00 UT   19 39 11.2   -20 12 14     3.520    2.745   33.0   11.3   262   11.5 
2025-02-16 00:00 UT   19 40 51.3   -20 10 54     3.514    2.747   33.7   11.5   262   11.5 
2025-02-17 00:00 UT   19 42 31.0   -20 09 31     3.509    2.749   34.3   11.7   262   11.6 
2025-02-18 00:00 UT   19 44 10.4   -20 08 06     3.503    2.751   34.9   11.9   262   11.6 
2025-02-19 00:00 UT   19 45 49.5   -20 06 38     3.497    2.753   35.5   12.0   261   11.6 
2025-02-20 00:00 UT   19 47 28.1   -20 05 08     3.491    2.755   36.1   12.2   261   11.6 
2025-02-21 00:00 UT   19 49 06.4   -20 03 36     3.484    2.756   36.8   12.4   261   11.6 
2025-02-22 00:00 UT   19 50 44.2   -20 02 02     3.478    2.758   37.4   12.6   261   11.6 
2025-02-23 00:00 UT   19 52 21.7   -20 00 26     3.472    2.760   38.0   12.8   260   11.6 
2025-02-24 00:00 UT   19 53 58.8   -19 58 48     3.465    2.762   38.6   12.9   260   11.6 
2025-02-25 00:00 UT   19 55 35.4   -19 57 08     3.458    2.764   39.3   13.1   260   11.6 
2025-02-26 00:00 UT   19 57 11.7   -19 55 27     3.451    2.766   39.9   13.3   260   11.6 

    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.