(50) Virginia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	29 Jul 2025	11.7	2.191 AU	1.177 AU	20h33m	-14°46'	176.1°	1.8°
Today	11 Aug 2025	11.9	2.156 AU	1.160 AU	20h22m	-15°43'	165.6°	6.7°

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 Virginia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2846696
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6516076
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.83893
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 173.45131
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 200.06255
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 300.97942
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 193.49120
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.97353
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.32            
        

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
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   20 22 45.7   -15 43 07     1.160    2.156  165.6    6.7    91   11.9 
2025-08-11 02:25 UT   20 22 40.6   -15 43 35     1.160    2.156  165.4    6.8    90   11.9 
2025-08-12 00:00 UT   20 21 55.3   -15 47 43     1.160    2.153  164.4    7.3    89   12.0 
2025-08-13 00:00 UT   20 21 05.8   -15 52 17     1.160    2.150  163.3    7.8    89   12.0 
2025-08-14 00:00 UT   20 20 17.1   -15 56 51     1.161    2.148  162.1    8.3    88   12.0 
2025-08-15 00:00 UT   20 19 29.4   -16 01 23     1.162    2.145  161.0    8.8    87   12.0 
2025-08-16 00:00 UT   20 18 42.8   -16 05 53     1.163    2.142  159.9    9.4    86   12.0 
2025-08-17 00:00 UT   20 17 57.3   -16 10 21     1.164    2.139  158.7    9.9    86   12.1 
2025-08-18 00:00 UT   20 17 13.0   -16 14 47     1.166    2.137  157.6   10.4    85   12.1 
2025-08-19 00:00 UT   20 16 30.0   -16 19 10     1.167    2.134  156.5   10.9    85   12.1 
2025-08-20 00:00 UT   20 15 48.3   -16 23 30     1.169    2.131  155.4   11.4    84   12.1 
2025-08-21 00:00 UT   20 15 08.1   -16 27 47     1.171    2.128  154.2   11.9    84   12.1 
2025-08-22 00:00 UT   20 14 29.3   -16 32 00     1.174    2.126  153.1   12.4    84   12.2 
2025-08-23 00:00 UT   20 13 52.1   -16 36 10     1.176    2.123  152.0   12.9    83   12.2 
2025-08-24 00:00 UT   20 13 16.5   -16 40 15     1.179    2.120  150.9   13.4    83   12.2 
2025-08-25 00:00 UT   20 12 42.6   -16 44 17     1.182    2.118  149.8   13.9    83   12.2 
2025-08-26 00:00 UT   20 12 10.4   -16 48 14     1.185    2.115  148.7   14.4    83   12.2 
2025-08-27 00:00 UT   20 11 40.0   -16 52 06     1.189    2.112  147.6   14.8    82   12.3 
2025-08-28 00:00 UT   20 11 11.4   -16 55 54     1.192    2.110  146.5   15.3    82   12.3 
2025-08-29 00:00 UT   20 10 44.7   -16 59 36     1.196    2.107  145.5   15.8    82   12.3 
2025-08-30 00:00 UT   20 10 19.9   -17 03 13     1.200    2.105  144.4   16.2    82   12.3 
2025-08-31 00:00 UT   20 09 57.0   -17 06 45     1.204    2.102  143.3   16.7    82   12.3 
2025-09-01 00:00 UT   20 09 36.1   -17 10 11     1.208    2.099  142.3   17.1    81   12.4 
2025-09-02 00:00 UT   20 09 17.2   -17 13 32     1.213    2.097  141.2   17.5    81   12.4 
2025-09-03 00:00 UT   20 09 00.4   -17 16 46     1.217    2.094  140.2   18.0    81   12.4 
2025-09-04 00:00 UT   20 08 45.6   -17 19 55     1.222    2.092  139.2   18.4    81   12.4 
2025-09-05 00:00 UT   20 08 32.8   -17 22 58     1.227    2.089  138.1   18.8    81   12.4 
2025-09-06 00:00 UT   20 08 22.2   -17 25 54     1.232    2.087  137.1   19.2    81   12.5 
2025-09-07 00:00 UT   20 08 13.6   -17 28 45     1.237    2.084  136.1   19.6    81   12.5 
2025-09-08 00:00 UT   20 08 07.2   -17 31 29     1.243    2.081  135.1   20.0    80   12.5 
2025-09-09 00:00 UT   20 08 02.9   -17 34 06     1.248    2.079  134.1   20.4    80   12.5 
2025-09-10 00:00 UT   20 08 00.7   -17 36 37     1.254    2.076  133.1   20.7    80   12.5 

    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.