(20) Massalia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	29 Sep 2024	9.2	2.399 AU	1.397 AU	00h24m	+03°02'	179.5°	0.2°
Today	21 Nov 2024	10.5	2.315 AU	1.651 AU	23h57m	-00°10'	120.5°	21.6°

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 Massalia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1437312
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4079252
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.70933
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 205.97889
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 257.45788
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 284.30987
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 283.43584
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.69240
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.74            
        

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
2024-11-21 00:00 UT   23 57 31.4   +00 10 16     1.651    2.315  120.5   21.6    67   10.5 
2024-11-21 13:07 UT   23 57 37.5   +00 09 47     1.656    2.314  120.0   21.7    67   10.5 
2024-11-22 00:00 UT   23 57 43.0   +00 09 21     1.660    2.313  119.6   21.8    67   10.5 
2024-11-23 00:00 UT   23 57 56.4   +00 08 15     1.670    2.312  118.6   22.0    67   10.5 
2024-11-24 00:00 UT   23 58 11.4   +00 06 58     1.679    2.310  117.7   22.2    67   10.5 
2024-11-25 00:00 UT   23 58 28.2   +00 05 30     1.689    2.308  116.8   22.4    67   10.6 
2024-11-26 00:00 UT   23 58 46.5   +00 03 51     1.699    2.307  115.8   22.7    67   10.6 
2024-11-27 00:00 UT   23 59 06.6   +00 02 01     1.709    2.305  114.9   22.8    67   10.6 
2024-11-28 00:00 UT   23 59 28.2   +00 00 00     1.719    2.304  114.0   23.0    67   10.6 
2024-11-29 00:00 UT   23 59 51.5   +00 02 11     1.729    2.302  113.1   23.2    67   10.6 
2024-11-30 00:00 UT   00 00 16.4   +00 04 34     1.739    2.300  112.2   23.4    67   10.6 
2024-12-01 00:00 UT   00 00 42.9   +00 07 06     1.749    2.299  111.3   23.6    67   10.7 
2024-12-02 00:00 UT   00 01 11.0   +00 09 50     1.760    2.297  110.4   23.7    67   10.7 
2024-12-03 00:00 UT   00 01 40.6   +00 12 43     1.770    2.296  109.5   23.9    67   10.7 
2024-12-04 00:00 UT   00 02 11.7   +00 15 47     1.781    2.294  108.6   24.0    67   10.7 
2024-12-05 00:00 UT   00 02 44.4   +00 19 01     1.791    2.293  107.8   24.2    67   10.7 
2024-12-06 00:00 UT   00 03 18.6   +00 22 25     1.802    2.291  106.9   24.3    67   10.7 
2024-12-07 00:00 UT   00 03 54.2   +00 25 59     1.812    2.289  106.0   24.4    67   10.8 
2024-12-08 00:00 UT   00 04 31.3   +00 29 43     1.823    2.288  105.2   24.6    67   10.8 
2024-12-09 00:00 UT   00 05 09.9   +00 33 36     1.834    2.286  104.4   24.7    67   10.8 
2024-12-10 00:00 UT   00 05 49.8   +00 37 38     1.844    2.285  103.5   24.8    67   10.8 
2024-12-11 00:00 UT   00 06 31.2   +00 41 50     1.855    2.283  102.7   24.9    67   10.8 
2024-12-12 00:00 UT   00 07 13.9   +00 46 11     1.866    2.282  101.9   25.0    67   10.8 
2024-12-13 00:00 UT   00 07 58.0   +00 50 40     1.877    2.280  101.0   25.1    67   10.8 
2024-12-14 00:00 UT   00 08 43.4   +00 55 19     1.887    2.278  100.2   25.2    67   10.9 
2024-12-15 00:00 UT   00 09 30.1   +01 00 06     1.898    2.277   99.4   25.2    67   10.9 
2024-12-16 00:00 UT   00 10 18.1   +01 05 01     1.909    2.275   98.6   25.3    67   10.9 
2024-12-17 00:00 UT   00 11 07.4   +01 10 05     1.920    2.274   97.8   25.4    67   10.9 
2024-12-18 00:00 UT   00 11 57.9   +01 15 17     1.931    2.272   97.0   25.5    67   10.9 
2024-12-19 00:00 UT   00 12 49.7   +01 20 38     1.942    2.271   96.3   25.5    67   10.9 
2024-12-20 00:00 UT   00 13 42.7   +01 26 06     1.953    2.269   95.5   25.6    67   10.9 
2024-12-21 00:00 UT   00 14 36.8   +01 31 42     1.964    2.268   94.7   25.6    67   10.9 

    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.