(20) Massalia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Jun 2026	11.3	2.433 AU	2.184 AU	12h03m	-00°20'	91.5°	24.7°
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) : 205.94778
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 257.19556
            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
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   12 03 01.7   +00 20 12     2.184    2.433   91.5   24.7   113   11.3 
2026-06-21 18:23 UT   12 03 46.5   +00 24 53     2.194    2.434   91.0   24.7   113   11.3 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   12 04 00.3   +00 26 19     2.198    2.435   90.8   24.7   113   11.3 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   12 04 59.6   +00 32 31     2.211    2.436   90.2   24.7   113   11.3 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   12 05 59.7   +00 38 48     2.225    2.438   89.5   24.6   113   11.4 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   12 07 00.6   +00 45 10     2.239    2.439   88.8   24.6   113   11.4 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   12 08 02.2   +00 51 38     2.253    2.441   88.1   24.6   113   11.4 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   12 09 04.5   +00 58 09     2.267    2.443   87.4   24.6   113   11.4 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   12 10 07.6   -01 04 46     2.281    2.444   86.8   24.5   113   11.4 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   12 11 11.3   -01 11 27     2.294    2.446   86.1   24.5   113   11.4 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   12 12 15.7   -01 18 12     2.308    2.447   85.4   24.5   113   11.4 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   12 13 20.8   -01 25 02     2.322    2.449   84.8   24.4   113   11.5 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   12 14 26.6   -01 31 57     2.336    2.450   84.1   24.4   113   11.5 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   12 15 33.0   -01 38 55     2.350    2.452   83.5   24.3   113   11.5 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   12 16 40.0   -01 45 57     2.363    2.453   82.8   24.3   113   11.5 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   12 17 47.7   -01 53 04     2.377    2.455   82.2   24.2   113   11.5 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   12 18 56.0   -02 00 14     2.391    2.456   81.5   24.2   113   11.5 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   12 20 04.9   -02 07 28     2.405    2.458   80.9   24.1   113   11.5 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   12 21 14.4   -02 14 46     2.418    2.460   80.3   24.0   113   11.5 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   12 22 24.4   -02 22 08     2.432    2.461   79.6   24.0   113   11.5 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   12 23 35.1   -02 29 33     2.446    2.463   79.0   23.9   113   11.6 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   12 24 46.4   -02 37 02     2.459    2.464   78.4   23.8   113   11.6 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   12 25 58.2   -02 44 34     2.473    2.466   77.7   23.8   113   11.6 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   12 27 10.6   -02 52 09     2.487    2.467   77.1   23.7   113   11.6 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   12 28 23.5   -02 59 48     2.500    2.469   76.5   23.6   113   11.6 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   12 29 37.0   -03 07 30     2.514    2.470   75.8   23.5   113   11.6 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   12 30 51.0   -03 15 16     2.527    2.472   75.2   23.4   113   11.6 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   12 32 05.5   -03 23 04     2.541    2.473   74.6   23.3   113   11.6 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   12 33 20.6   -03 30 55     2.554    2.475   74.0   23.2   113   11.6 

    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.