(760) Massinga
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	13 May 2025	14.6	3.745 AU	3.899 AU	22h42m	-10°03'	73.8°	15.0°
Opposition	28 Aug 2025	13.2	3.840 AU	2.830 AU	22h28m	-08°09'	178.5°	0.4°

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 Massinga are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2342781
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1478972
            i (Inclination)                 : 12.54061
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 331.52618
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 200.25387
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 134.79000
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 351.33484
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -4.31080
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.59            
        

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
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   22 42 36.3   -10 03 28     3.899    3.745   73.8   15.0   247   14.6 
2025-05-13 06:53 UT   22 42 47.4   -10 02 01     3.895    3.745   74.0   15.0   247   14.6 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   22 43 14.6   -09 58 27     3.886    3.746   74.6   15.1   247   14.6 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   22 43 52.1   -09 53 29     3.873    3.747   75.4   15.1   247   14.5 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   22 44 29.1   -09 48 34     3.859    3.748   76.2   15.2   247   14.5 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   22 45 05.3   -09 43 42     3.846    3.750   77.0   15.2   247   14.5 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   22 45 40.8   -09 38 54     3.832    3.751   77.8   15.3   247   14.5 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   22 46 15.7   -09 34 09     3.819    3.752   78.6   15.3   247   14.5 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   22 46 49.8   -09 29 28     3.805    3.753   79.4   15.4   248   14.5 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   22 47 23.2   -09 24 50     3.792    3.754   80.2   15.4   248   14.5 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   22 47 55.9   -09 20 16     3.778    3.755   81.0   15.4   248   14.5 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   22 48 27.8   -09 15 46     3.764    3.756   81.8   15.5   248   14.5 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   22 48 59.1   -09 11 20     3.751    3.757   82.6   15.5   248   14.5 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   22 49 29.5   -09 06 57     3.737    3.758   83.4   15.5   248   14.5 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   22 49 59.2   -09 02 38     3.723    3.759   84.2   15.6   248   14.5 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   22 50 28.1   -08 58 23     3.709    3.760   85.1   15.6   248   14.5 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   22 50 56.3   -08 54 12     3.696    3.761   85.9   15.6   248   14.5 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   22 51 23.6   -08 50 06     3.682    3.762   86.7   15.6   248   14.5 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   22 51 50.2   -08 46 03     3.668    3.764   87.6   15.6   248   14.5 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   22 52 15.9   -08 42 04     3.654    3.765   88.4   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   22 52 40.9   -08 38 10     3.640    3.766   89.2   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   22 53 05.0   -08 34 20     3.626    3.767   90.1   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   22 53 28.3   -08 30 34     3.612    3.768   90.9   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   22 53 50.7   -08 26 53     3.598    3.769   91.8   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   22 54 12.3   -08 23 15     3.585    3.770   92.6   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   22 54 33.1   -08 19 43     3.571    3.771   93.5   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   22 54 53.0   -08 16 15     3.557    3.772   94.3   15.6   248   14.4 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   22 55 12.0   -08 12 51     3.543    3.773   95.2   15.5   248   14.4 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   22 55 30.2   -08 09 32     3.529    3.774   96.1   15.5   248   14.4 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   22 55 47.5   -08 06 17     3.515    3.775   96.9   15.5   248   14.4 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   22 56 03.9   -08 03 07     3.501    3.776   97.8   15.5   248   14.4 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   22 56 19.4   -08 00 02     3.488    3.777   98.7   15.4   248   14.3 

    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.