(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	6 Aug 2025	10.2	3.038 AU	2.036 AU	21h19m	-27°16'	168.9°	3.7°
Today	2 Oct 2025	11.3	3.112 AU	2.524 AU	20h49m	-30°14'	117.2°	16.6°

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)                : 0.1800323
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7704091
            i (Inclination)                 : 16.29901
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.41083
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 76.68608
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 93.72416
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 183.56048
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.84924
            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
2025-10-02 00:00 UT   20 49 55.0   -30 14 44     2.524    3.112  117.2   16.6    68   11.3 
2025-10-02 21:24 UT   20 49 59.4   -30 13 37     2.536    3.114  116.4   16.7    68   11.3 
2025-10-03 00:00 UT   20 49 60.0   -30 13 29     2.538    3.114  116.3   16.7    68   11.3 
2025-10-04 00:00 UT   20 50 06.4   -30 12 07     2.552    3.115  115.4   16.9    68   11.3 
2025-10-05 00:00 UT   20 50 14.3   -30 10 38     2.566    3.116  114.5   17.0    68   11.3 
2025-10-06 00:00 UT   20 50 23.5   -30 09 03     2.580    3.117  113.5   17.1    69   11.4 
2025-10-07 00:00 UT   20 50 34.1   -30 07 21     2.594    3.118  112.6   17.2    69   11.4 
2025-10-08 00:00 UT   20 50 46.1   -30 05 32     2.608    3.120  111.7   17.3    69   11.4 
2025-10-09 00:00 UT   20 50 59.5   -30 03 38     2.623    3.121  110.8   17.4    69   11.4 
2025-10-10 00:00 UT   20 51 14.2   -30 01 37     2.637    3.122  109.9   17.5    70   11.4 
2025-10-11 00:00 UT   20 51 30.2   -29 59 30     2.652    3.123  109.0   17.6    70   11.4 
2025-10-12 00:00 UT   20 51 47.6   -29 57 17     2.666    3.124  108.1   17.7    70   11.4 
2025-10-13 00:00 UT   20 52 06.2   -29 54 58     2.681    3.125  107.2   17.8    70   11.5 
2025-10-14 00:00 UT   20 52 26.2   -29 52 34     2.696    3.127  106.4   17.8    70   11.5 
2025-10-15 00:00 UT   20 52 47.4   -29 50 03     2.710    3.128  105.5   17.9    71   11.5 
2025-10-16 00:00 UT   20 53 09.9   -29 47 27     2.725    3.129  104.6   18.0    71   11.5 
2025-10-17 00:00 UT   20 53 33.7   -29 44 46     2.740    3.130  103.7   18.0    71   11.5 
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   20 53 58.7   -29 41 59     2.755    3.131  102.8   18.1    71   11.5 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   20 54 25.0   -29 39 07     2.770    3.132  102.0   18.1    71   11.6 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   20 54 52.4   -29 36 09     2.785    3.133  101.1   18.2    71   11.6 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   20 55 21.1   -29 33 07     2.800    3.135  100.3   18.2    72   11.6 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   20 55 50.9   -29 29 59     2.815    3.136   99.4   18.2    72   11.6 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   20 56 22.0   -29 26 46     2.830    3.137   98.6   18.3    72   11.6 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   20 56 54.1   -29 23 29     2.846    3.138   97.7   18.3    72   11.6 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   20 57 27.4   -29 20 06     2.861    3.139   96.9   18.3    72   11.6 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   20 58 01.9   -29 16 39     2.876    3.140   96.0   18.4    72   11.6 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   20 58 37.4   -29 13 07     2.891    3.141   95.2   18.4    72   11.7 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   20 59 14.0   -29 09 31     2.906    3.142   94.4   18.4    72   11.7 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   20 59 51.7   -29 05 50     2.922    3.143   93.5   18.4    73   11.7 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   21 00 30.4   -29 02 04     2.937    3.144   92.7   18.4    73   11.7 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   21 01 10.1   -28 58 14     2.952    3.146   91.9   18.4    73   11.7 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   21 01 50.9   -28 54 20     2.968    3.147   91.1   18.4    73   11.7 

    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.