(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	24 Feb 2026	13.3	2.760 AU	2.699 AU	03h56m	+03°56'	83.0°	20.8°
Opposition	11 Feb 2027	12.4	2.965 AU	2.070 AU	09h02m	-14°48'	149.8°	9.6°

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 Phocaea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2540340
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4002954
            i (Inclination)                 : 21.60663
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 214.08841
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 90.23190
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 89.19817
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.33784
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 21.60644
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.72            
        

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
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   03 56 18.0   +03 56 51     2.699    2.760   83.0   20.8    80   13.3 
2026-02-24 00:05 UT   03 56 18.1   +03 56 52     2.699    2.760   83.0   20.8    80   13.3 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   03 57 10.8   +04 01 34     2.715    2.762   82.3   20.8    80   13.3 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   03 58 04.6   +04 06 18     2.730    2.764   81.6   20.8    80   13.3 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   03 58 59.1   +04 11 02     2.745    2.766   80.8   20.7    81   13.3 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   03 59 54.5   +04 15 46     2.760    2.768   80.1   20.6    81   13.3 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   04 00 50.6   +04 20 29     2.775    2.770   79.4   20.6    81   13.3 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   04 01 47.5   +04 25 13     2.791    2.772   78.7   20.5    82   13.3 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   04 02 45.2   +04 29 56     2.806    2.774   77.9   20.5    82   13.3 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   04 03 43.6   +04 34 39     2.821    2.775   77.2   20.4    82   13.4 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   04 04 42.8   +04 39 21     2.836    2.777   76.5   20.3    82   13.4 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   04 05 42.7   +04 44 03     2.851    2.779   75.8   20.2    83   13.4 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   04 06 43.3   +04 48 44     2.865    2.781   75.1   20.2    83   13.4 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   04 07 44.6   +04 53 24     2.880    2.783   74.4   20.1    83   13.4 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   04 08 46.6   +04 58 04     2.895    2.785   73.7   20.0    84   13.4 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   04 09 49.3   +05 02 42     2.910    2.787   73.0   19.9    84   13.4 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   04 10 52.6   +05 07 19     2.924    2.789   72.3   19.8    84   13.4 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   04 11 56.6   +05 11 55     2.939    2.791   71.7   19.8    85   13.4 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   04 13 01.3   +05 16 30     2.954    2.792   71.0   19.7    85   13.4 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   04 14 06.6   +05 21 04     2.968    2.794   70.3   19.6    85   13.4 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   04 15 12.6   +05 25 36     2.982    2.796   69.6   19.5    85   13.5 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   04 16 19.1   +05 30 06     2.997    2.798   68.9   19.4    86   13.5 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   04 17 26.3   +05 34 35     3.011    2.800   68.3   19.3    86   13.5 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   04 18 34.1   +05 39 02     3.025    2.802   67.6   19.2    86   13.5 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   04 19 42.4   +05 43 27     3.039    2.803   66.9   19.1    87   13.5 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   04 20 51.3   +05 47 50     3.054    2.805   66.3   19.0    87   13.5 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   04 22 00.9   +05 52 12     3.068    2.807   65.6   18.9    87   13.5 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   04 23 10.9   +05 56 31     3.081    2.809   65.0   18.7    88   13.5 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   04 24 21.5   +06 00 48     3.095    2.811   64.3   18.6    88   13.5 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   04 25 32.7   +06 05 02     3.109    2.812   63.7   18.5    88   13.5 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   04 26 44.3   +06 09 14     3.123    2.814   63.0   18.4    89   13.5 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   04 27 56.5   +06 13 24     3.136    2.816   62.4   18.3    89   13.5 

    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.