(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	2 Jun 2023	11.2	2.187 AU	2.953 AU	02h22m	+11°00'	34.0°	15.0°
Opposition	22 Dec 2023	8.4	2.101 AU	1.118 AU	06h03m	+27°17'	176.1°	1.8°

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)                : 0.1234286
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3865696
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.57659
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 68.88386
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.90040
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 291.84483
            Epoch                           : 2023 Feb 25

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 74.75653
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.57238
            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. 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
2023-06-02 00:00 UT   02 22 49.3   +11 00 38     2.953    2.187   34.0   15.0   247   11.2 
2023-06-02 21:41 UT   02 24 34.3   +11 09 58     2.947    2.186   34.4   15.2   247   11.2 
2023-06-03 00:00 UT   02 24 45.5   +11 10 57     2.946    2.186   34.4   15.2   247   11.2 
2023-06-04 00:00 UT   02 26 41.8   +11 21 13     2.939    2.185   34.9   15.4   247   11.2 
2023-06-05 00:00 UT   02 28 38.1   +11 31 25     2.931    2.184   35.3   15.6   247   11.2 
2023-06-06 00:00 UT   02 30 34.6   +11 41 33     2.924    2.183   35.8   15.8   247   11.2 
2023-06-07 00:00 UT   02 32 31.1   +11 51 37     2.916    2.182   36.2   16.0   248   11.2 
2023-06-08 00:00 UT   02 34 27.7   +12 01 37     2.909    2.181   36.7   16.1   248   11.2 
2023-06-09 00:00 UT   02 36 24.4   +12 11 34     2.901    2.180   37.1   16.3   248   11.2 
2023-06-10 00:00 UT   02 38 21.1   +12 21 26     2.893    2.179   37.6   16.5   248   11.2 
2023-06-11 00:00 UT   02 40 17.9   +12 31 15     2.885    2.178   38.0   16.7   249   11.2 
2023-06-12 00:00 UT   02 42 14.8   +12 40 59     2.877    2.176   38.5   16.9   249   11.2 
2023-06-13 00:00 UT   02 44 11.7   +12 50 39     2.870    2.175   38.9   17.1   249   11.2 
2023-06-14 00:00 UT   02 46 08.7   +13 00 15     2.862    2.174   39.4   17.2   249   11.2 
2023-06-15 00:00 UT   02 48 05.8   +13 09 46     2.853    2.173   39.8   17.4   249   11.2 
2023-06-16 00:00 UT   02 50 02.9   +13 19 14     2.845    2.172   40.3   17.6   250   11.2 
2023-06-17 00:00 UT   02 52 00.0   +13 28 37     2.837    2.171   40.8   17.8   250   11.2 
2023-06-18 00:00 UT   02 53 57.2   +13 37 55     2.829    2.170   41.2   18.0   250   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.