(113) Amalthea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Apr 2024	13.8	2.415 AU	2.931 AU	05h13m	+21°13'	50.2°	18.6°
Opposition	14 Apr 2025	11.0	2.172 AU	1.176 AU	13h45m	-00°58'	170.8°	4.2°

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)                : 0.0858340
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3763670
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.04187
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 123.32788
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 80.07466
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 258.91875
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 203.36476
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 4.96622
            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
2024-04-19 00:00 UT   05 13 51.0   +21 13 17     2.931    2.415   50.2   18.6    87   13.8 
2024-04-19 00:58 UT   05 13 55.2   +21 13 25     2.932    2.415   50.2   18.6    87   13.8 
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   05 15 35.2   +21 16 34     2.940    2.414   49.6   18.5    87   13.8 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   05 17 19.8   +21 19 47     2.949    2.413   49.0   18.3    87   13.8 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   05 19 04.9   +21 22 55     2.958    2.412   48.5   18.2    87   13.8 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   05 20 50.5   +21 25 59     2.966    2.411   47.9   18.0    88   13.8 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   05 22 36.6   +21 28 58     2.975    2.410   47.4   17.9    88   13.8 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   05 24 23.1   +21 31 52     2.983    2.409   46.8   17.7    88   13.8 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   05 26 10.0   +21 34 42     2.992    2.408   46.2   17.6    88   13.8 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   05 27 57.3   +21 37 26     3.000    2.407   45.7   17.4    88   13.8 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   05 29 45.1   +21 40 06     3.008    2.406   45.1   17.2    89   13.8 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   05 31 33.4   +21 42 42     3.016    2.405   44.6   17.1    89   13.8 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   05 33 22.0   +21 45 12     3.024    2.404   44.0   16.9    89   13.8 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   05 35 11.0   +21 47 37     3.032    2.403   43.5   16.8    89   13.8 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   05 37 00.5   +21 49 57     3.040    2.402   42.9   16.6    89   13.8 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   05 38 50.3   +21 52 12     3.048    2.402   42.4   16.4    90   13.8 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   05 40 40.6   +21 54 22     3.056    2.401   41.8   16.3    90   13.8 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   05 42 31.2   +21 56 27     3.063    2.400   41.3   16.1    90   13.8 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   05 44 22.2   +21 58 26     3.071    2.399   40.8   15.9    90   13.8 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   05 46 13.6   +22 00 21     3.078    2.398   40.2   15.8    90   13.8 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   05 48 05.4   +22 02 10     3.085    2.397   39.7   15.6    90   13.8 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   05 49 57.5   +22 03 53     3.092    2.396   39.2   15.4    91   13.8 

    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.