(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	31 Dec 2025	11.2	2.648 AU	3.630 AU	18h37m	-25°09'	2.1°	0.8°
Opposition	28 Aug 2026	9.2	2.401 AU	1.399 AU	22h41m	-18°35'	170.4°	4.0°

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 Metis are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1225645
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3865665
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.57771
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 68.86978
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.89591
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 199.19648
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 74.73797
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.57206
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.69            
        

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
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   18 37 59.0   -25 09 48     3.630    2.648    2.1    0.8   193   11.2 
2025-12-31 07:59 UT   18 38 37.1   -25 09 30     3.630    2.648    2.2    0.8   198   11.2 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   18 39 53.7   -25 08 51     3.629    2.647    2.3    0.9   206   11.2 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   18 41 48.4   -25 07 49     3.629    2.647    2.7    1.0   217   11.2 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   18 43 43.1   -25 06 42     3.627    2.646    3.1    1.2   225   11.3 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   18 45 37.7   -25 05 30     3.626    2.646    3.6    1.3   230   11.3 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   18 47 32.4   -25 04 14     3.625    2.645    4.1    1.5   235   11.3 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   18 49 27.1   -25 02 52     3.623    2.644    4.6    1.7   238   11.3 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   18 51 21.7   -25 01 25     3.622    2.644    5.1    1.9   241   11.3 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   18 53 16.3   -24 59 54     3.620    2.643    5.7    2.1   243   11.3 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   18 55 10.9   -24 58 18     3.618    2.643    6.2    2.3   245   11.3 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   18 57 05.4   -24 56 37     3.616    2.642    6.8    2.5   246   11.4 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   18 58 59.9   -24 54 51     3.614    2.641    7.4    2.7   247   11.4 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   19 00 54.3   -24 53 01     3.611    2.641    7.9    2.9   248   11.4 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   19 02 48.7   -24 51 05     3.609    2.640    8.5    3.2   249   11.4 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   19 04 43.0   -24 49 05     3.606    2.640    9.1    3.4   250   11.4 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   19 06 37.2   -24 47 00     3.604    2.639    9.6    3.6   250   11.4 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   19 08 31.4   -24 44 51     3.601    2.638   10.2    3.8   251   11.4 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   19 10 25.5   -24 42 37     3.598    2.638   10.8    4.0   251   11.4 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   19 12 19.5   -24 40 18     3.595    2.637   11.4    4.2   252   11.4 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   19 14 13.4   -24 37 54     3.591    2.636   11.9    4.4   252   11.5 

    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.