(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	28 Aug 2026	9.2	2.401 AU	1.399 AU	22h41m	-18°35'	170.4°	4.0°
Today	3 Sep 2026	9.2	2.394 AU	1.397 AU	22h36m	-19°06'	168.4°	4.9°

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)                : 0.1224892
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3865669
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.57731
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 68.86581
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.93234
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 252.61680
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 74.77026
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.57554
            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
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   22 36 32.3   -19 06 12     1.397    2.394  168.4    4.9    13    9.2 
2026-09-03 01:10 UT   22 36 29.4   -19 06 27     1.397    2.394  168.4    4.9    13    9.2 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   22 35 34.2   -19 11 21     1.397    2.392  167.7    5.2    17    9.2 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   22 34 36.3   -19 16 21     1.398    2.391  166.9    5.5    22    9.2 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   22 33 38.6   -19 21 11     1.399    2.390  166.0    5.8    25    9.3 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   22 32 41.2   -19 25 51     1.400    2.388  165.1    6.2    29    9.3 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   22 31 44.2   -19 30 21     1.402    2.387  164.2    6.6    32    9.3 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   22 30 47.6   -19 34 39     1.403    2.386  163.2    7.0    34    9.3 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   22 29 51.6   -19 38 47     1.405    2.384  162.2    7.4    37    9.3 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   22 28 56.3   -19 42 43     1.407    2.383  161.2    7.8    39    9.4 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   22 28 01.6   -19 46 27     1.410    2.381  160.2    8.2    41    9.4 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   22 27 07.7   -19 49 59     1.413    2.380  159.2    8.6    42    9.4 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   22 26 14.7   -19 53 19     1.415    2.379  158.1    9.1    44    9.4 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   22 25 22.6   -19 56 26     1.419    2.377  157.1    9.5    45    9.4 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   22 24 31.5   -19 59 21     1.422    2.376  156.0    9.9    47    9.5 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   22 23 41.4   -20 02 03     1.426    2.375  154.9   10.3    48    9.5 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   22 22 52.5   -20 04 32     1.430    2.373  153.8   10.8    49    9.5 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   22 22 04.8   -20 06 48     1.434    2.372  152.8   11.2    50    9.5 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   22 21 18.3   -20 08 51     1.438    2.371  151.7   11.6    51    9.6 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   22 20 33.0   -20 10 40     1.442    2.369  150.6   12.0    52    9.6 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   22 19 49.2   -20 12 17     1.447    2.368  149.5   12.4    53    9.6 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   22 19 06.7   -20 13 41     1.452    2.366  148.4   12.8    54    9.6 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   22 18 25.6   -20 14 51     1.457    2.365  147.4   13.2    54    9.6 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   22 17 46.1   -20 15 48     1.463    2.364  146.3   13.6    55    9.7 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   22 17 08.0   -20 16 32     1.468    2.362  145.2   14.0    56    9.7 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   22 16 31.5   -20 17 04     1.474    2.361  144.2   14.4    56    9.7 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   22 15 56.6   -20 17 22     1.480    2.360  143.1   14.8    57    9.7 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   22 15 23.3   -20 17 27     1.486    2.358  142.0   15.1    57    9.7 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   22 14 51.7   -20 17 20     1.493    2.357  141.0   15.5    58    9.8 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   22 14 21.7   -20 16 60     1.499    2.355  139.9   15.9    58    9.8 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   22 13 53.5   -20 16 27     1.506    2.354  138.9   16.2    59    9.8 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   22 13 27.0   -20 15 41     1.513    2.353  137.8   16.6    59    9.8 

    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.