(87) Sylvia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 Oct 2026	13.7	3.764 AU	4.182 AU	09h47m	+21°52'	58.8°	13.1°
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)      : 267.10153
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 123.91993
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 159.99488
            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
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   09 47 56.3   +21 52 16     4.182    3.764   58.8   13.1   295   13.7 
2026-10-14 10:03 UT   09 48 21.3   +21 51 12     4.177    3.764   59.1   13.1   295   13.7 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   09 48 55.8   +21 49 43     4.170    3.765   59.6   13.2   295   13.7 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   09 49 54.8   +21 47 13     4.157    3.765   60.3   13.3   294   13.7 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   09 50 53.3   +21 44 46     4.145    3.765   61.1   13.4   294   13.7 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   09 51 51.2   +21 42 22     4.132    3.766   61.8   13.5   294   13.7 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   09 52 48.7   +21 40 01     4.119    3.766   62.6   13.6   294   13.7 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   09 53 45.6   +21 37 44     4.106    3.767   63.4   13.7   294   13.7 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   09 54 42.0   +21 35 30     4.093    3.767   64.1   13.8   294   13.7 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   09 55 37.8   +21 33 19     4.080    3.768   64.9   13.8   294   13.6 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   09 56 33.1   +21 31 12     4.067    3.768   65.7   13.9   294   13.6 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   09 57 27.9   +21 29 08     4.054    3.768   66.5   14.0   294   13.6 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   09 58 22.1   +21 27 08     4.041    3.769   67.2   14.1   294   13.6 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   09 59 15.7   +21 25 11     4.027    3.769   68.0   14.2   294   13.6 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   10 00 08.7   +21 23 19     4.014    3.770   68.8   14.2   294   13.6 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   10 01 01.2   +21 21 30     4.000    3.770   69.6   14.3   294   13.6 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   10 01 53.0   +21 19 45     3.986    3.771   70.4   14.4   294   13.6 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   10 02 44.3   +21 18 05     3.973    3.771   71.2   14.4   294   13.6 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   10 03 34.9   +21 16 28     3.959    3.771   72.0   14.5   293   13.6 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   10 04 25.0   +21 14 55     3.945    3.772   72.8   14.6   293   13.6 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   10 05 14.4   +21 13 27     3.931    3.772   73.6   14.6   293   13.6 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   10 06 03.1   +21 12 03     3.917    3.773   74.4   14.7   293   13.6 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   10 06 51.3   +21 10 44     3.903    3.773   75.2   14.7   293   13.6 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   10 07 38.7   +21 09 29     3.889    3.774   76.0   14.8   293   13.6 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   10 08 25.5   +21 08 19     3.875    3.774   76.8   14.8   293   13.6 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   10 09 11.6   +21 07 14     3.861    3.774   77.6   14.9   293   13.6 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   10 09 57.0   +21 06 13     3.846    3.775   78.4   14.9   293   13.6 
2026-11-09 00:00 UT   10 10 41.7   +21 05 17     3.832    3.775   79.3   14.9   293   13.6 
2026-11-10 00:00 UT   10 11 25.6   +21 04 27     3.818    3.776   80.1   15.0   293   13.5 
2026-11-11 00:00 UT   10 12 08.9   +21 03 41     3.803    3.776   80.9   15.0   293   13.5 
2026-11-12 00:00 UT   10 12 51.4   +21 03 01     3.789    3.776   81.8   15.0   292   13.5 
2026-11-13 00:00 UT   10 13 33.2   +21 02 25     3.775    3.777   82.6   15.1   292   13.5 

    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.