(471) Papagena
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Jul 2025	11.0	2.282 AU	2.230 AU	02h40m	+00°07'	79.8°	26.0°
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)                : 0.2290233
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.8885289
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.01908
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 83.77141
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 315.87747
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 326.52079
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 40.64341
            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
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   02 40 20.7   +00 07 14     2.230    2.282   79.8   26.0   249   11.0 
2025-07-20 05:44 UT   02 40 41.8   +00 08 16     2.227    2.281   80.0   26.0   249   11.0 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   02 41 49.0   +00 11 32     2.218    2.280   80.4   26.1   249   11.0 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   02 43 16.7   +00 15 45     2.207    2.279   80.9   26.1   249   11.0 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   02 44 43.9   +00 19 52     2.195    2.278   81.5   26.2   250   11.0 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   02 46 10.5   +00 23 52     2.183    2.277   82.1   26.2   250   11.0 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   02 47 36.4   +00 27 47     2.171    2.276   82.6   26.3   250   11.0 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   02 49 01.8   +00 31 36     2.159    2.275   83.2   26.3   250   11.0 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   02 50 26.5   +00 35 19     2.148    2.274   83.8   26.4   251   11.0 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   02 51 50.5   +00 38 55     2.136    2.273   84.3   26.4   251   11.0 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   02 53 13.9   +00 42 26     2.124    2.272   84.9   26.4   251   10.9 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   02 54 36.6   +00 45 51     2.112    2.270   85.5   26.5   251   10.9 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   02 55 58.6   +00 49 10     2.101    2.269   86.1   26.5   252   10.9 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   02 57 19.9   +00 52 23     2.089    2.268   86.7   26.5   252   10.9 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   02 58 40.5   +00 55 30     2.077    2.267   87.2   26.6   252   10.9 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   03 00 00.4   +00 58 32     2.065    2.266   87.8   26.6   252   10.9 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   03 01 19.5   +01 01 27     2.054    2.265   88.4   26.6   253   10.9 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   03 02 37.8   +01 04 16     2.042    2.264   89.0   26.6   253   10.9 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   03 03 55.3   +01 06 60     2.030    2.263   89.6   26.6   253   10.8 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   03 05 12.1   +01 09 37     2.019    2.262   90.2   26.6   253   10.8 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   03 06 28.0   +01 12 09     2.007    2.262   90.8   26.6   254   10.8 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   03 07 43.1   +01 14 35     1.995    2.261   91.4   26.6   254   10.8 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   03 08 57.3   +01 16 55     1.984    2.260   92.1   26.6   254   10.8 
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   03 10 10.7   +01 19 09     1.972    2.259   92.7   26.6   255   10.8 
2025-08-12 00:00 UT   03 11 23.2   +01 21 18     1.960    2.258   93.3   26.6   255   10.8 
2025-08-13 00:00 UT   03 12 34.7   +01 23 20     1.949    2.257   93.9   26.6   255   10.7 
2025-08-14 00:00 UT   03 13 45.4   +01 25 17     1.937    2.256   94.6   26.6   255   10.7 

    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.