(113) Amalthea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	14 Apr 2025	11.0	2.172 AU	1.176 AU	13h45m	-00°58'	170.8°	4.3°
Today	19 Apr 2025	11.0	2.172 AU	1.177 AU	13h41m	-00°33'	169.4°	4.9°

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 Amalthea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0860520
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3762273
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.04231
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 123.32433
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 80.23808
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 6.41686
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 203.52522
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 4.96912
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.66            
        

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
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   13 41 08.3   +00 33 47     1.177    2.172  169.4    4.9   172   11.0 
2025-04-19 05:12 UT   13 40 56.7   +00 32 39     1.177    2.172  169.3    4.9   171   11.0 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   13 40 14.8   +00 28 35     1.178    2.172  168.8    5.2   166   11.0 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   13 39 21.6   +00 23 33     1.179    2.172  168.0    5.5   162   11.0 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   13 38 28.6   +00 18 40     1.180    2.172  167.2    5.9   157   11.1 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   13 37 36.1   +00 13 57     1.182    2.172  166.4    6.3   154   11.1 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   13 36 44.0   +00 09 25     1.184    2.172  165.5    6.7   150   11.1 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   13 35 52.4   +00 05 04     1.186    2.172  164.5    7.1   148   11.1 
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   13 35 01.5   +00 00 53     1.188    2.172  163.6    7.5   145   11.2 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   13 34 11.2   +00 03 05     1.191    2.172  162.6    8.0   143   11.2 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   13 33 21.8   +00 06 52     1.194    2.173  161.6    8.4   141   11.2 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   13 32 33.2   +00 10 26     1.197    2.173  160.5    8.9   139   11.2 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   13 31 45.5   +00 13 47     1.200    2.173  159.5    9.3   137   11.3 
2025-05-01 00:00 UT   13 30 58.8   +00 16 56     1.204    2.173  158.5    9.8   136   11.3 
2025-05-02 00:00 UT   13 30 13.2   +00 19 52     1.208    2.173  157.4   10.3   134   11.3 
2025-05-03 00:00 UT   13 29 28.7   +00 22 34     1.212    2.173  156.4   10.7   133   11.3 
2025-05-04 00:00 UT   13 28 45.4   +00 25 03     1.216    2.173  155.3   11.2   132   11.4 
2025-05-05 00:00 UT   13 28 03.4   +00 27 19     1.220    2.173  154.2   11.6   131   11.4 
2025-05-06 00:00 UT   13 27 22.6   +00 29 20     1.225    2.173  153.2   12.1   130   11.4 
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   13 26 43.1   +00 31 08     1.230    2.174  152.1   12.5   129   11.4 
2025-05-08 00:00 UT   13 26 05.1   +00 32 42     1.235    2.174  151.1   13.0   128   11.5 
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   13 25 28.4   +00 34 02     1.240    2.174  150.0   13.4   128   11.5 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   13 24 53.2   +00 35 09     1.246    2.174  149.0   13.8   127   11.5 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   13 24 19.5   +00 36 01     1.251    2.174  147.9   14.3   126   11.5 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   13 23 47.4   +00 36 40     1.257    2.174  146.9   14.7   126   11.6 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   13 23 16.8   +00 37 04     1.263    2.174  145.9   15.1   125   11.6 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   13 22 47.8   +00 37 15     1.269    2.175  144.8   15.5   125   11.6 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   13 22 20.3   +00 37 12     1.276    2.175  143.8   15.9   124   11.6 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   13 21 54.6   +00 36 55     1.282    2.175  142.8   16.3   124   11.7 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   13 21 30.4   +00 36 25     1.289    2.175  141.8   16.7   123   11.7 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   13 21 08.0   +00 35 41     1.296    2.175  140.8   17.1   123   11.7 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   13 20 47.2   +00 34 43     1.303    2.176  139.8   17.5   122   11.7 

    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.