(471) Papagena
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	8 Jun 2025	11.4	2.340 AU	2.709 AU	01h32m	-04°13'	58.3°	21.6°
Opposition	10 Nov 2025	9.1	2.231 AU	1.262 AU	03h20m	+01°56'	164.1°	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 Papagena are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2290234
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.8885289
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.01908
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 83.77139
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 315.87748
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 326.52079
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 40.64340
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.39379
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.91            
        

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
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   01 32 28.2   -04 13 47     2.709    2.340   58.3   21.6   240   11.4 
2025-06-08 08:31 UT   01 33 04.7   -04 11 00     2.705    2.339   58.4   21.7   240   11.4 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   01 34 11.0   -04 05 58     2.698    2.338   58.8   21.8   240   11.4 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   01 35 53.7   -03 58 13     2.687    2.337   59.2   21.9   240   11.4 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   01 37 36.1   -03 50 31     2.676    2.335   59.7   22.1   240   11.4 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   01 39 18.3   -03 42 54     2.665    2.334   60.2   22.2   241   11.4 
2025-06-13 00:00 UT   01 41 00.3   -03 35 21     2.654    2.332   60.7   22.3   241   11.4 
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   01 42 42.1   -03 27 52     2.643    2.331   61.2   22.4   241   11.4 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   01 44 23.7   -03 20 28     2.632    2.329   61.7   22.6   241   11.4 
2025-06-16 00:00 UT   01 46 05.0   -03 13 08     2.621    2.328   62.2   22.7   241   11.4 
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   01 47 46.2   -03 05 52     2.610    2.326   62.7   22.8   242   11.3 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   01 49 27.0   -02 58 40     2.599    2.324   63.2   23.0   242   11.3 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   01 51 07.7   -02 51 33     2.588    2.323   63.7   23.1   242   11.3 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   01 52 48.0   -02 44 31     2.576    2.321   64.2   23.2   242   11.3 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   01 54 28.2   -02 37 33     2.565    2.320   64.7   23.3   242   11.3 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   01 56 08.0   -02 30 40     2.554    2.319   65.2   23.4   243   11.3 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   01 57 47.6   -02 23 52     2.543    2.317   65.7   23.6   243   11.3 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   01 59 26.9   -02 17 09     2.531    2.316   66.2   23.7   243   11.3 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   02 01 05.9   -02 10 30     2.520    2.314   66.7   23.8   243   11.3 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   02 02 44.5   -02 03 57     2.509    2.313   67.2   23.9   244   11.3 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   02 04 22.9   -01 57 28     2.497    2.311   67.7   24.0   244   11.3 

    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.