(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	24 Apr 2026	11.5	2.556 AU	2.751 AU	21h55m	-17°06'	68.3°	21.4°
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
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   21 55 58.3   -17 06 12     2.751    2.556   68.3   21.4   248   11.5 
2026-04-24 16:01 UT   21 56 54.3   -17 02 37     2.742    2.555   68.7   21.5   248   11.5 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   21 57 22.1   -17 00 51     2.738    2.555   68.9   21.6   248   11.5 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   21 58 45.3   -16 55 32     2.725    2.554   69.6   21.7   248   11.4 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   22 00 08.0   -16 50 15     2.712    2.553   70.2   21.8   248   11.4 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   22 01 30.1   -16 44 60     2.699    2.552   70.8   21.9   248   11.4 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   22 02 51.7   -16 39 47     2.685    2.551   71.5   22.0   248   11.4 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   22 04 12.7   -16 34 37     2.672    2.550   72.1   22.1   248   11.4 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   22 05 33.1   -16 29 29     2.659    2.548   72.7   22.2   248   11.4 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   22 06 53.0   -16 24 23     2.646    2.547   73.4   22.3   248   11.4 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   22 08 12.3   -16 19 21     2.632    2.546   74.0   22.4   248   11.4 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   22 09 31.0   -16 14 21     2.619    2.545   74.7   22.5   248   11.4 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   22 10 49.2   -16 09 24     2.606    2.544   75.3   22.5   248   11.4 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   22 12 06.7   -16 04 29     2.592    2.543   75.9   22.6   248   11.4 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   22 13 23.6   -15 59 38     2.579    2.542   76.6   22.7   248   11.3 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   22 14 39.9   -15 54 51     2.565    2.541   77.2   22.8   248   11.3 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   22 15 55.5   -15 50 06     2.552    2.540   77.9   22.9   248   11.3 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   22 17 10.6   -15 45 25     2.538    2.539   78.6   22.9   248   11.3 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   22 18 24.9   -15 40 47     2.525    2.538   79.2   23.0   248   11.3 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   22 19 38.6   -15 36 13     2.511    2.537   79.9   23.1   248   11.3 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   22 20 51.7   -15 31 43     2.498    2.535   80.5   23.1   248   11.3 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   22 22 04.0   -15 27 17     2.484    2.534   81.2   23.2   248   11.3 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   22 23 15.7   -15 22 55     2.470    2.533   81.9   23.3   248   11.3 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   22 24 26.7   -15 18 37     2.457    2.532   82.5   23.3   248   11.3 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   22 25 36.9   -15 14 24     2.443    2.531   83.2   23.4   248   11.2 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   22 26 46.4   -15 10 15     2.429    2.530   83.9   23.4   248   11.2 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   22 27 55.2   -15 06 10     2.415    2.529   84.6   23.5   248   11.2 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   22 29 03.2   -15 02 10     2.402    2.528   85.2   23.5   248   11.2 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   22 30 10.5   -14 58 15     2.388    2.527   85.9   23.5   248   11.2 

    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.