(20) Massalia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Jul 2024	11.0	2.499 AU	1.940 AU	00h45m	+05°26'	111.6°	22.2°
Opposition	29 Sep 2024	9.2	2.399 AU	1.398 AU	00h24m	+03°02'	179.5°	0.2°

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 Massalia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1436369
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4078351
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.70928
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 205.98117
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 257.47838
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 231.51719
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 283.45862
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.69241
            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
2024-07-27 00:00 UT   00 45 20.6   +05 26 51     1.940    2.499  111.6   22.2   247   11.0 
2024-07-27 03:38 UT   00 45 24.6   +05 27 16     1.938    2.499  111.7   22.2   247   11.0 
2024-07-28 00:00 UT   00 45 46.3   +05 29 35     1.927    2.498  112.4   22.1   247   11.0 
2024-07-29 00:00 UT   00 46 10.8   +05 32 10     1.914    2.496  113.3   21.9   247   11.0 
2024-07-30 00:00 UT   00 46 34.0   +05 34 36     1.901    2.495  114.1   21.8   247   11.0 
2024-07-31 00:00 UT   00 46 55.8   +05 36 54     1.889    2.493  115.0   21.7   247   11.0 
2024-08-01 00:00 UT   00 47 16.2   +05 39 03     1.876    2.492  115.8   21.5   247   10.9 
2024-08-02 00:00 UT   00 47 35.3   +05 41 04     1.863    2.490  116.7   21.4   247   10.9 
2024-08-03 00:00 UT   00 47 53.0   +05 42 55     1.851    2.489  117.6   21.2   247   10.9 
2024-08-04 00:00 UT   00 48 09.3   +05 44 37     1.838    2.487  118.5   21.0   247   10.9 
2024-08-05 00:00 UT   00 48 24.2   +05 46 10     1.826    2.486  119.4   20.8   247   10.9 
2024-08-06 00:00 UT   00 48 37.6   +05 47 34     1.813    2.484  120.3   20.7   247   10.8 
2024-08-07 00:00 UT   00 48 49.5   +05 48 49     1.801    2.483  121.2   20.5   247   10.8 
2024-08-08 00:00 UT   00 49 00.0   +05 49 53     1.789    2.481  122.1   20.3   247   10.8 
2024-08-09 00:00 UT   00 49 09.0   +05 50 49     1.777    2.480  123.0   20.1   247   10.8 
2024-08-10 00:00 UT   00 49 16.5   +05 51 35     1.765    2.478  123.9   19.8   247   10.7 
2024-08-11 00:00 UT   00 49 22.5   +05 52 11     1.754    2.477  124.9   19.6   247   10.7 
2024-08-12 00:00 UT   00 49 27.0   +05 52 37     1.742    2.475  125.8   19.4   247   10.7 
2024-08-13 00:00 UT   00 49 30.0   +05 52 54     1.730    2.474  126.7   19.2   247   10.7 
2024-08-14 00:00 UT   00 49 31.4   +05 53 00     1.719    2.472  127.7   18.9   247   10.6 
2024-08-15 00:00 UT   00 49 31.2   +05 52 57     1.708    2.470  128.7   18.7   247   10.6 
2024-08-16 00:00 UT   00 49 29.5   +05 52 43     1.697    2.469  129.6   18.4   247   10.6 
2024-08-17 00:00 UT   00 49 26.2   +05 52 20     1.686    2.467  130.6   18.2   247   10.6 
2024-08-18 00:00 UT   00 49 21.4   +05 51 46     1.675    2.466  131.6   17.9   247   10.6 
2024-08-19 00:00 UT   00 49 14.9   +05 51 02     1.664    2.464  132.6   17.6   247   10.5 
2024-08-20 00:00 UT   00 49 06.9   +05 50 08     1.654    2.463  133.6   17.3   247   10.5 
2024-08-21 00:00 UT   00 48 57.3   +05 49 03     1.643    2.461  134.6   17.0   247   10.5 
2024-08-22 00:00 UT   00 48 46.0   +05 47 48     1.633    2.460  135.6   16.7   247   10.5 
2024-08-23 00:00 UT   00 48 33.2   +05 46 23     1.623    2.458  136.6   16.4   247   10.4 
2024-08-24 00:00 UT   00 48 18.7   +05 44 47     1.613    2.457  137.6   16.1   247   10.4 
2024-08-25 00:00 UT   00 48 02.7   +05 43 01     1.604    2.455  138.7   15.8   247   10.4 
2024-08-26 00:00 UT   00 47 45.0   +05 41 04     1.594    2.454  139.7   15.4   246   10.4 

    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.