(87) Sylvia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Aug 2026	13.5	3.734 AU	4.686 AU	08h37m	+25°11'	17.8°	4.8°
Opposition	13 Feb 2027	12.4	3.806 AU	2.840 AU	10h07m	+26°21'	166.1°	3.6°

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 Sylvia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0942418
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.4909308
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.84932
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 72.94601
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.10152
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 123.91994
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 159.99487
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.83527
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 6.52            
        

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
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   08 37 11.9   +25 11 30     4.686    3.734   17.8    4.8   305   13.5 
2026-08-15 08:05 UT   08 37 38.4   +25 10 20     4.685    3.734   18.0    4.8   305   13.5 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   08 38 30.5   +25 08 02     4.682    3.735   18.4    4.9   305   13.5 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   08 39 48.9   +25 04 33     4.678    3.735   19.0    5.1   304   13.6 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   08 41 07.2   +25 01 04     4.674    3.736   19.7    5.2   304   13.6 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   08 42 25.2   +24 57 34     4.669    3.736   20.3    5.4   303   13.6 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   08 43 43.0   +24 54 04     4.665    3.737   20.9    5.5   303   13.6 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   08 45 00.7   +24 50 33     4.660    3.737   21.6    5.7   302   13.6 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   08 46 18.1   +24 47 01     4.655    3.738   22.2    5.9   302   13.6 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   08 47 35.4   +24 43 29     4.650    3.739   22.8    6.0   301   13.6 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   08 48 52.4   +24 39 57     4.645    3.739   23.5    6.2   301   13.6 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   08 50 09.2   +24 36 24     4.639    3.740   24.1    6.3   301   13.6 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   08 51 25.8   +24 32 51     4.634    3.740   24.8    6.5   300   13.6 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   08 52 42.2   +24 29 18     4.628    3.741   25.4    6.7   300   13.6 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   08 53 58.3   +24 25 45     4.622    3.741   26.1    6.8   300   13.6 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   08 55 14.3   +24 22 11     4.616    3.742   26.7    7.0   300   13.6 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   08 56 29.9   +24 18 38     4.610    3.742   27.4    7.1   299   13.6 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   08 57 45.4   +24 15 04     4.604    3.743   28.0    7.3   299   13.6 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   08 59 00.6   +24 11 30     4.597    3.743   28.7    7.4   299   13.6 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   09 00 15.6   +24 07 57     4.591    3.744   29.3    7.6   299   13.6 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   09 01 30.3   +24 04 23     4.584    3.744   30.0    7.7   299   13.6 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   09 02 44.8   +24 00 50     4.577    3.745   30.7    7.9   298   13.6 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   09 03 59.0   +23 57 16     4.570    3.745   31.3    8.0   298   13.7 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   09 05 13.0   +23 53 43     4.563    3.746   32.0    8.2   298   13.7 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   09 06 26.7   +23 50 11     4.555    3.746   32.7    8.3   298   13.7 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   09 07 40.1   +23 46 38     4.548    3.747   33.3    8.5   298   13.7 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   09 08 53.2   +23 43 06     4.540    3.747   34.0    8.6   298   13.7 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   09 10 06.1   +23 39 35     4.532    3.748   34.7    8.8   297   13.7 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   09 11 18.6   +23 36 04     4.524    3.748   35.4    8.9   297   13.7 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   09 12 30.9   +23 32 34     4.516    3.749   36.0    9.1   297   13.7 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   09 13 42.9   +23 29 05     4.507    3.749   36.7    9.2   297   13.7 

    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.