(20) Massalia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Apr 2024	12.0	2.629 AU	3.231 AU	22h58m	-06°03'	45.7°	15.9°
Opposition	29 Sep 2024	9.2	2.400 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)                : 0.1434678
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4081803
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.70928
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 205.97933
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 257.47039
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 178.76950
            Epoch                           : 2023 Sep 13

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 283.44879
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.69239
            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
2024-04-19 00:00 UT   22 58 13.9   -06 03 12     3.231    2.629   45.7   15.9   248   12.0 
2024-04-19 20:28 UT   22 59 28.4   -05 55 30     3.222    2.628   46.1   16.0   248   12.0 
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   22 59 41.2   -05 54 10     3.221    2.628   46.2   16.0   248   12.0 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   23 01 08.3   -05 45 09     3.210    2.627   46.8   16.2   248   12.0 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   23 02 35.1   -05 36 07     3.200    2.626   47.4   16.4   248   12.0 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   23 04 01.6   -05 27 07     3.189    2.625   48.0   16.5   248   12.0 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   23 05 27.8   -05 18 07     3.178    2.624   48.6   16.7   248   12.0 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   23 06 53.7   -05 09 07     3.167    2.622   49.2   16.9   248   12.0 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   23 08 19.3   -05 00 09     3.156    2.621   49.8   17.0   248   12.0 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   23 09 44.7   -04 51 11     3.145    2.620   50.3   17.2   248   12.0 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   23 11 09.8   -04 42 13     3.134    2.619   50.9   17.4   248   12.0 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   23 12 34.6   -04 33 17     3.123    2.618   51.5   17.5   247   12.0 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   23 13 59.0   -04 24 22     3.112    2.617   52.1   17.7   247   12.0 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   23 15 23.2   -04 15 27     3.100    2.616   52.7   17.8   247   12.0 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   23 16 47.1   -04 06 34     3.089    2.614   53.3   18.0   247   12.0 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   23 18 10.6   -03 57 41     3.077    2.613   53.9   18.2   247   12.0 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   23 19 33.9   -03 48 50     3.066    2.612   54.5   18.3   247   12.0 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   23 20 56.8   -03 40 00     3.054    2.611   55.1   18.5   247   12.0 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   23 22 19.4   -03 31 12     3.042    2.610   55.7   18.6   247   12.0 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   23 23 41.7   -03 22 25     3.030    2.608   56.3   18.8   247   12.0 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   23 25 03.6   -03 13 39     3.018    2.607   56.9   18.9   247   12.0 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   23 26 25.2   -03 04 55     3.006    2.606   57.5   19.1   247   12.0 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   23 27 46.4   -02 56 12     2.994    2.605   58.1   19.2   247   12.0 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   23 29 07.3   -02 47 31     2.982    2.604   58.7   19.3   247   12.0 

    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.