(20) Massalia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	31 Jul 2026	11.8	2.494 AU	2.725 AU	12h50m	-05°16'	66.2°	21.9°
Opposition	11 Jul 2027	10.0	2.751 AU	1.735 AU	19h22m	-20°58'	178.8°	0.5°

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)                : 0.1436089
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4079541
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.70934
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 205.94781
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 257.19553
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 82.80148
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 283.14239
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.69170
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   12 50 18.9   -05 16 42     2.725    2.494   66.2   21.9   113   11.8 
2026-07-31 08:20 UT   12 50 47.1   -05 19 36     2.730    2.495   66.0   21.8   113   11.8 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   12 51 40.2   -05 25 04     2.738    2.496   65.6   21.7   113   11.8 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   12 53 02.0   -05 33 28     2.751    2.497   65.0   21.6   113   11.8 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   12 54 24.2   -05 41 54     2.764    2.499   64.4   21.5   113   11.8 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   12 55 46.7   -05 50 21     2.777    2.500   63.8   21.4   113   11.8 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   12 57 09.7   -05 58 50     2.789    2.502   63.2   21.2   113   11.8 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   12 58 33.0   -06 07 21     2.802    2.503   62.6   21.1   113   11.8 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   12 59 56.7   -06 15 52     2.814    2.505   62.1   21.0   113   11.8 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   13 01 20.8   -06 24 25     2.827    2.506   61.5   20.8   112   11.8 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   13 02 45.3   -06 32 60     2.839    2.508   60.9   20.7   112   11.8 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   13 04 10.2   -06 41 35     2.852    2.509   60.3   20.5   112   11.8 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   13 05 35.4   -06 50 11     2.864    2.511   59.7   20.4   112   11.8 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   13 07 01.0   -06 58 49     2.876    2.512   59.2   20.3   112   11.8 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   13 08 26.9   -07 07 28     2.888    2.514   58.6   20.1   112   11.8 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   13 09 53.2   -07 16 07     2.901    2.515   58.0   20.0   112   11.9 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   13 11 19.9   -07 24 47     2.913    2.516   57.4   19.8   112   11.9 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   13 12 46.9   -07 33 28     2.925    2.518   56.9   19.7   112   11.9 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   13 14 14.2   -07 42 10     2.936    2.519   56.3   19.5   112   11.9 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   13 15 41.9   -07 50 52     2.948    2.521   55.7   19.4   112   11.9 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   13 17 09.9   -07 59 35     2.960    2.522   55.1   19.2   112   11.9 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   13 18 38.3   -08 08 18     2.972    2.524   54.6   19.1   112   11.9 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   13 20 06.9   -08 17 02     2.983    2.525   54.0   18.9   112   11.9 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   13 21 35.9   -08 25 46     2.995    2.527   53.4   18.8   112   11.9 

    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.