(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Jan 2026	12.8	2.697 AU	2.239 AU	03h37m	+01°50'	107.1°	20.4°
Opposition	11 Feb 2027	12.5	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
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   03 37 39.3   +01 50 33     2.239    2.697  107.1   20.4    71   12.8 
2026-01-25 00:16 UT   03 37 39.5   +01 50 35     2.239    2.697  107.0   20.4    71   12.8 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   03 37 59.7   +01 53 52     2.254    2.699  106.2   20.5    71   12.8 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   03 38 21.4   +01 57 16     2.269    2.702  105.3   20.6    71   12.8 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   03 38 44.4   +02 00 45     2.284    2.704  104.5   20.7    72   12.9 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   03 39 08.7   +02 04 20     2.299    2.706  103.6   20.7    72   12.9 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   03 39 34.3   +02 07 59     2.314    2.708  102.8   20.8    72   12.9 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   03 40 01.1   +02 11 43     2.330    2.710  101.9   20.8    73   12.9 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   03 40 29.2   +02 15 32     2.345    2.712  101.1   20.9    73   12.9 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   03 40 58.5   +02 19 25     2.360    2.715  100.2   20.9    73   12.9 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   03 41 28.9   +02 23 22     2.375    2.717   99.4   21.0    73   13.0 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   03 42 00.6   +02 27 22     2.391    2.719   98.6   21.0    74   13.0 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   03 42 33.4   +02 31 27     2.406    2.721   97.8   21.0    74   13.0 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   03 43 07.4   +02 35 35     2.422    2.723   97.0   21.1    74   13.0 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   03 43 42.5   +02 39 47     2.437    2.725   96.1   21.1    75   13.0 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   03 44 18.8   +02 44 01     2.452    2.727   95.3   21.1    75   13.0 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   03 44 56.1   +02 48 19     2.468    2.729   94.5   21.1    75   13.1 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   03 45 34.5   +02 52 40     2.483    2.731   93.7   21.1    76   13.1 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   03 46 14.0   +02 57 03     2.499    2.733   92.9   21.1    76   13.1 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   03 46 54.6   +03 01 28     2.514    2.736   92.2   21.1    76   13.1 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   03 47 36.1   +03 05 56     2.530    2.738   91.4   21.1    77   13.1 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   03 48 18.8   +03 10 27     2.545    2.740   90.6   21.1    77   13.1 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   03 49 02.4   +03 14 59     2.561    2.742   89.8   21.1    77   13.1 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   03 49 47.0   +03 19 33     2.576    2.744   89.0   21.1    77   13.2 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   03 50 32.6   +03 24 08     2.592    2.746   88.3   21.1    78   13.2 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   03 51 19.2   +03 28 46     2.607    2.748   87.5   21.1    78   13.2 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   03 52 06.7   +03 33 24     2.623    2.750   86.8   21.0    78   13.2 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   03 52 55.1   +03 38 04     2.638    2.752   86.0   21.0    79   13.2 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   03 53 44.5   +03 42 44     2.653    2.754   85.2   21.0    79   13.2 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   03 54 34.8   +03 47 26     2.669    2.756   84.5   20.9    79   13.2 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   03 55 25.9   +03 52 08     2.684    2.758   83.8   20.9    79   13.3 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   03 56 18.0   +03 56 51     2.699    2.760   83.0   20.8    80   13.3 

    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.