(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Jul 2025	12.7	2.189 AU	2.455 AU	03h21m	+20°22'	62.9°	24.4°
Opposition	22 Nov 2025	11.4	2.545 AU	1.581 AU	04h06m	+04°29'	163.9°	6.2°

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)                : 0.2541175
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4000402
            i (Inclination)                 : 21.60849
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 214.08948
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 90.19895
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 36.20664
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.30347
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 21.60835
            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. 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
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   03 21 44.8   +20 22 38     2.455    2.189   62.9   24.4   256   12.7 
2025-07-19 01:26 UT   03 21 50.8   +20 22 40     2.455    2.189   63.0   24.4   256   12.7 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   03 23 25.1   +20 23 01     2.447    2.192   63.5   24.5   256   12.7 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   03 25 04.6   +20 23 16     2.439    2.195   64.1   24.6   256   12.7 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   03 26 43.4   +20 23 22     2.431    2.198   64.7   24.7   256   12.7 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   03 28 21.5   +20 23 21     2.423    2.201   65.3   24.8   257   12.7 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   03 29 58.9   +20 23 11     2.415    2.203   65.8   24.9   257   12.6 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   03 31 35.6   +20 22 53     2.407    2.206   66.4   25.0   257   12.6 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   03 33 11.4   +20 22 27     2.398    2.209   67.0   25.0   257   12.6 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   03 34 46.6   +20 21 53     2.390    2.212   67.6   25.1   257   12.6 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   03 36 20.9   +20 21 10     2.381    2.215   68.2   25.2   257   12.6 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   03 37 54.4   +20 20 20     2.373    2.218   68.8   25.3   257   12.6 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   03 39 27.2   +20 19 21     2.364    2.221   69.4   25.3   257   12.6 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   03 40 59.1   +20 18 13     2.355    2.224   70.0   25.4   257   12.6 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   03 42 30.1   +20 16 58     2.347    2.227   70.6   25.5   257   12.6 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   03 44 00.4   +20 15 34     2.338    2.230   71.3   25.5   257   12.6 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   03 45 29.7   +20 14 02     2.329    2.233   71.9   25.6   257   12.6 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   03 46 58.2   +20 12 22     2.320    2.236   72.5   25.7   257   12.6 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   03 48 25.8   +20 10 33     2.311    2.238   73.1   25.7   258   12.6 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   03 49 52.5   +20 08 36     2.302    2.241   73.8   25.8   258   12.6 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   03 51 18.3   +20 06 31     2.293    2.244   74.4   25.8   258   12.6 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   03 52 43.2   +20 04 17     2.284    2.247   75.1   25.8   258   12.6 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   03 54 07.1   +20 01 55     2.275    2.250   75.7   25.9   258   12.6 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   03 55 30.1   +19 59 24     2.265    2.253   76.3   25.9   258   12.6 
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   03 56 52.1   +19 56 46     2.256    2.256   77.0   26.0   258   12.6 

    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.