(85) Io
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Apr 2024	11.8	2.699 AU	1.719 AU	14h57m	-11°11'	164.0°	5.9°
Opposition	2 May 2024	11.5	2.674 AU	1.670 AU	14h47m	-09°25'	173.6°	2.4°

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 Io are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1934592
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6539192
            i (Inclination)                 : 11.96096
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 203.05085
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 122.88771
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 271.47645
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 146.51456
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 10.02229
            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
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   14 57 04.5   -11 11 17     1.719    2.699  164.0    5.9   267   11.8 
2024-04-20 16:01 UT   14 56 35.2   -11 05 44     1.715    2.697  164.8    5.6   266   11.7 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   14 56 20.5   -11 02 57     1.713    2.697  165.1    5.5   265   11.7 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   14 55 35.6   -10 54 35     1.708    2.695  166.2    5.1   263   11.7 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   14 54 49.9   -10 46 11     1.703    2.693  167.2    4.7   261   11.7 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   14 54 03.6   -10 37 44     1.698    2.691  168.2    4.4   258   11.6 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   14 53 16.6   -10 29 16     1.694    2.689  169.2    4.0   255   11.6 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   14 52 28.9   -10 20 46     1.690    2.687  170.2    3.7   250   11.6 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   14 51 40.8   -10 12 15     1.686    2.685  171.1    3.3   245   11.6 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   14 50 52.1   -10 03 44     1.682    2.683  171.9    3.0   239   11.5 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   14 50 02.9   -09 55 12     1.679    2.681  172.5    2.8   232   11.5 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   14 49 13.4   -09 46 41     1.676    2.679  173.1    2.6   223   11.5 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   14 48 23.6   -09 38 11     1.673    2.677  173.5    2.5   214   11.5 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   14 47 33.5   -09 29 41     1.671    2.675  173.6    2.4   203   11.5 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   14 46 43.1   -09 21 13     1.668    2.673  173.6    2.4   192   11.5 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   14 45 52.6   -09 12 47     1.667    2.671  173.3    2.5   182   11.5 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   14 45 02.1   -09 04 24     1.665    2.668  172.8    2.7   173   11.5 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   14 44 11.5   -08 56 03     1.664    2.666  172.1    3.0   165   11.5 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   14 43 20.9   -08 47 46     1.662    2.664  171.4    3.3   158   11.5 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   14 42 30.5   -08 39 32     1.662    2.662  170.5    3.6   153   11.5 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   14 41 40.2   -08 31 23     1.661    2.660  169.6    3.9   149   11.5 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   14 40 50.1   -08 23 18     1.661    2.658  168.6    4.3   145   11.6 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   14 40 00.4   -08 15 19     1.661    2.656  167.6    4.7   142   11.6 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   14 39 11.0   -08 07 25     1.661    2.654  166.6    5.1   139   11.6 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   14 38 22.0   -07 59 37     1.662    2.652  165.5    5.5   137   11.6 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   14 37 33.5   -07 51 55     1.663    2.650  164.4    5.9   135   11.6 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   14 36 45.5   -07 44 20     1.664    2.648  163.3    6.3   133   11.7 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   14 35 58.1   -07 36 52     1.665    2.646  162.2    6.7   132   11.7 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   14 35 11.3   -07 29 31     1.667    2.644  161.1    7.1   130   11.7 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   14 34 25.3   -07 22 18     1.669    2.642  160.0    7.5   129   11.7 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   14 33 40.0   -07 15 13     1.671    2.640  158.9    7.9   128   11.7 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   14 32 55.5   -07 08 17     1.673    2.638  157.8    8.3   127   11.8 

    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.