(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Jan 2025	11.6	2.530 AU	2.832 AU	14h36m	-11°20'	62.3°	20.1°
Opposition	8 May 2025	9.7	2.640 AU	1.632 AU	15h08m	-14°19'	176.7°	1.3°

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)                : 0.1228015
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3857311
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.57820
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 68.86899
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.72797
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 38.92985
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 74.57001
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.55586
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.68            
        

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
2025-01-03 00:00 UT   14 36 16.7   -11 20 18     2.832    2.530   62.3   20.1   290   11.6 
2025-01-03 02:09 UT   14 36 24.1   -11 20 52     2.831    2.530   62.3   20.1   290   11.6 
2025-01-04 00:00 UT   14 37 39.1   -11 26 42     2.821    2.531   63.0   20.2   290   11.6 
2025-01-05 00:00 UT   14 39 01.0   -11 33 00     2.811    2.532   63.6   20.4   290   11.6 
2025-01-06 00:00 UT   14 40 22.3   -11 39 14     2.800    2.533   64.3   20.5   290   11.6 
2025-01-07 00:00 UT   14 41 43.2   -11 45 23     2.788    2.534   65.0   20.6   289   11.6 
2025-01-08 00:00 UT   14 43 03.4   -11 51 27     2.777    2.535   65.6   20.7   289   11.6 
2025-01-09 00:00 UT   14 44 23.1   -11 57 26     2.766    2.536   66.3   20.8   289   11.6 
2025-01-10 00:00 UT   14 45 42.3   -12 03 20     2.755    2.537   67.0   20.9   289   11.6 
2025-01-11 00:00 UT   14 47 00.9   -12 09 09     2.743    2.539   67.7   21.0   289   11.6 
2025-01-12 00:00 UT   14 48 18.9   -12 14 53     2.732    2.540   68.4   21.1   289   11.6 
2025-01-13 00:00 UT   14 49 36.3   -12 20 33     2.721    2.541   69.0   21.2   289   11.6 
2025-01-14 00:00 UT   14 50 53.1   -12 26 07     2.709    2.542   69.7   21.3   288   11.6 
2025-01-15 00:00 UT   14 52 09.3   -12 31 37     2.697    2.543   70.4   21.4   288   11.6 
2025-01-16 00:00 UT   14 53 24.8   -12 37 01     2.686    2.544   71.1   21.5   288   11.6 
2025-01-17 00:00 UT   14 54 39.7   -12 42 20     2.674    2.545   71.8   21.5   288   11.6 
2025-01-18 00:00 UT   14 55 54.0   -12 47 35     2.662    2.546   72.5   21.6   288   11.5 
2025-01-19 00:00 UT   14 57 07.6   -12 52 44     2.650    2.547   73.2   21.7   288   11.5 
2025-01-20 00:00 UT   14 58 20.5   -12 57 48     2.639    2.548   73.9   21.8   288   11.5 
2025-01-21 00:00 UT   14 59 32.7   -13 02 48     2.627    2.549   74.6   21.9   287   11.5 
2025-01-22 00:00 UT   15 00 44.1   -13 07 42     2.615    2.550   75.4   21.9   287   11.5 
2025-01-23 00:00 UT   15 01 54.9   -13 12 31     2.603    2.551   76.1   22.0   287   11.5 
2025-01-24 00:00 UT   15 03 04.9   -13 17 15     2.591    2.552   76.8   22.1   287   11.5 
2025-01-25 00:00 UT   15 04 14.1   -13 21 54     2.578    2.554   77.5   22.1   287   11.5 
2025-01-26 00:00 UT   15 05 22.5   -13 26 28     2.566    2.555   78.2   22.2   287   11.5 
2025-01-27 00:00 UT   15 06 30.1   -13 30 56     2.554    2.556   79.0   22.2   287   11.5 
2025-01-28 00:00 UT   15 07 37.0   -13 35 20     2.542    2.557   79.7   22.3   286   11.5 
2025-01-29 00:00 UT   15 08 42.9   -13 39 38     2.529    2.558   80.4   22.3   286   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.