(87) Sylvia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	11 Dec 2025	12.1	3.560 AU	2.591 AU	06h00m	+27°06'	168.1°	3.3°
Opposition	19 Dec 2025	11.9	3.567 AU	2.585 AU	05h53m	+27°25'	175.9°	1.1°

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 Sylvia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0943375
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.4845188
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.87248
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 73.01149
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 265.82654
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 94.95962
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 158.76202
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.84330
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 6.50            
        

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
2025-12-11 00:00 UT   06 00 48.0   +27 06 30     2.591    3.560  168.1    3.3   252   12.1 
2025-12-11 00:47 UT   06 00 46.4   +27 06 35     2.590    3.560  168.1    3.3   252   12.1 
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   05 59 57.9   +27 08 54     2.589    3.561  169.2    3.0   250   12.1 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   05 59 07.3   +27 11 15     2.587    3.562  170.3    2.7   247   12.0 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   05 58 16.4   +27 13 34     2.586    3.562  171.4    2.4   244   12.0 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   05 57 25.1   +27 15 51     2.585    3.563  172.4    2.1   239   12.0 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   05 56 33.6   +27 18 04     2.584    3.564  173.4    1.8   234   12.0 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   05 55 41.8   +27 20 15     2.584    3.565  174.3    1.6   226   12.0 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   05 54 49.9   +27 22 23     2.584    3.566  175.1    1.3   216   11.9 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   05 53 57.9   +27 24 28     2.584    3.566  175.7    1.2   202   11.9 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   05 53 05.8   +27 26 30     2.585    3.567  176.0    1.1   186   11.9 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   05 52 13.6   +27 28 30     2.586    3.568  175.9    1.1   169   11.9 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   05 51 21.6   +27 30 26     2.587    3.569  175.5    1.2   154   11.9 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   05 50 29.6   +27 32 19     2.589    3.570  174.8    1.4   142   12.0 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   05 49 37.7   +27 34 09     2.591    3.571  174.0    1.7   133   12.0 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   05 48 46.1   +27 35 56     2.593    3.571  173.0    1.9   126   12.0 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   05 47 54.7   +27 37 41     2.596    3.572  172.0    2.2   121   12.0 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   05 47 03.6   +27 39 22     2.598    3.573  171.0    2.5   117   12.0 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   05 46 12.8   +27 40 60     2.602    3.574  169.9    2.8   113   12.1 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   05 45 22.5   +27 42 34     2.605    3.575  168.8    3.1   111   12.1 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   05 44 32.6   +27 44 06     2.609    3.575  167.6    3.4   109   12.1 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   05 43 43.2   +27 45 35     2.613    3.576  166.5    3.7   107   12.1 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   05 42 54.4   +27 47 01     2.617    3.577  165.3    4.0   105   12.2 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   05 42 06.1   +27 48 24     2.622    3.578  164.2    4.3   104   12.2 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   05 41 18.5   +27 49 44     2.627    3.579  163.0    4.6   103   12.2 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   05 40 31.5   +27 51 01     2.632    3.580  161.9    4.9   102   12.2 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   05 39 45.2   +27 52 16     2.637    3.580  160.7    5.2   101   12.2 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   05 38 59.7   +27 53 27     2.643    3.581  159.6    5.5   100   12.3 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   05 38 15.0   +27 54 36     2.649    3.582  158.4    5.8    99   12.3 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   05 37 31.0   +27 55 43     2.656    3.583  157.2    6.1    99   12.3 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   05 36 48.0   +27 56 46     2.662    3.584  156.1    6.4    98   12.3 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   05 36 05.8   +27 57 48     2.669    3.584  154.9    6.7    98   12.3 

    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.