(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 Mar 2026	13.4	2.787 AU	2.910 AU	04h09m	+05°02'	73.0°	19.9°
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
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   04 09 49.3   +05 02 42     2.910    2.787   73.0   19.9    84   13.4 
2026-03-10 00:59 UT   04 09 51.9   +05 02 53     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 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   04 29 09.2   +06 17 32     3.150    2.818   61.7   18.2    89   13.6 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   04 30 22.3   +06 21 36     3.163    2.819   61.1   18.0    90   13.6 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   04 31 36.0   +06 25 38     3.177    2.821   60.4   17.9    90   13.6 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   04 32 50.1   +06 29 38     3.190    2.823   59.8   17.8    90   13.6 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   04 34 04.7   +06 33 34     3.203    2.825   59.2   17.7    91   13.6 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   04 35 19.7   +06 37 28     3.216    2.826   58.5   17.6    91   13.6 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   04 36 35.2   +06 41 19     3.229    2.828   57.9   17.4    91   13.6 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   04 37 51.1   +06 45 07     3.242    2.830   57.3   17.3    92   13.6 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   04 39 07.4   +06 48 52     3.255    2.831   56.7   17.2    92   13.6 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   04 40 24.2   +06 52 34     3.267    2.833   56.1   17.0    92   13.6 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   04 41 41.3   +06 56 13     3.280    2.835   55.4   16.9    93   13.6 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   04 42 58.9   +06 59 49     3.293    2.837   54.8   16.8    93   13.6 

    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.