(189) Phthia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Dec 2025	14.4	2.514 AU	2.492 AU	11h19m	-00°19'	79.9°	22.7°
Opposition	12 Mar 2026	12.6	2.536 AU	1.544 AU	11h25m	-01°04'	175.5°	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 Phthia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0372474
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4504721
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.17306
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 203.27286
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 169.29422
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 129.27475
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.60968
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.95972
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.84            
        

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
2025-12-03 00:00 UT   11 19 40.5   +00 19 10     2.492    2.514   79.9   22.7   292   14.4 
2025-12-03 04:53 UT   11 19 53.4   +00 20 40     2.490    2.514   80.0   22.7   292   14.4 
2025-12-04 00:00 UT   11 20 43.4   +00 26 31     2.479    2.514   80.6   22.8   292   14.4 
2025-12-05 00:00 UT   11 21 45.5   +00 33 48     2.467    2.514   81.3   22.8   292   14.4 
2025-12-06 00:00 UT   11 22 46.8   +00 41 01     2.454    2.515   82.1   22.8   293   14.4 
2025-12-07 00:00 UT   11 23 47.2   +00 48 09     2.441    2.515   82.8   22.9   293   14.4 
2025-12-08 00:00 UT   11 24 46.9   +00 55 12     2.428    2.515   83.5   22.9   293   14.4 
2025-12-09 00:00 UT   11 25 45.6   -01 02 10     2.415    2.515   84.3   22.9   293   14.4 
2025-12-10 00:00 UT   11 26 43.6   -01 09 04     2.402    2.516   85.0   23.0   293   14.4 
2025-12-11 00:00 UT   11 27 40.6   -01 15 52     2.389    2.516   85.8   23.0   293   14.4 
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   11 28 36.8   -01 22 35     2.376    2.516   86.5   23.0   293   14.4 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   11 29 32.0   -01 29 12     2.363    2.517   87.3   23.0   293   14.3 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   11 30 26.3   -01 35 44     2.350    2.517   88.0   23.0   293   14.3 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   11 31 19.7   -01 42 10     2.337    2.517   88.8   23.0   293   14.3 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   11 32 12.1   -01 48 31     2.324    2.517   89.6   23.0   293   14.3 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   11 33 03.5   -01 54 45     2.311    2.518   90.4   23.0   293   14.3 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   11 33 53.9   -02 00 53     2.298    2.518   91.1   23.0   293   14.3 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   11 34 43.3   -02 06 56     2.285    2.518   91.9   23.0   294   14.3 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   11 35 31.7   -02 12 51     2.272    2.518   92.7   23.0   294   14.3 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   11 36 19.0   -02 18 40     2.259    2.519   93.5   22.9   294   14.2 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   11 37 05.3   -02 24 23     2.246    2.519   94.3   22.9   294   14.2 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   11 37 50.5   -02 29 58     2.233    2.519   95.1   22.9   294   14.2 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   11 38 34.5   -02 35 27     2.220    2.520   95.9   22.9   294   14.2 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   11 39 17.5   -02 40 48     2.207    2.520   96.7   22.8   294   14.2 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   11 39 59.4   -02 46 02     2.194    2.520   97.6   22.8   294   14.2 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   11 40 40.1   -02 51 09     2.181    2.520   98.4   22.7   294   14.2 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   11 41 19.6   -02 56 08     2.169    2.521   99.2   22.7   294   14.2 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   11 41 58.0   -03 01 00     2.156    2.521  100.1   22.6   294   14.1 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   11 42 35.2   -03 05 44     2.143    2.521  100.9   22.5   294   14.1 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   11 43 11.1   -03 10 20     2.130    2.521  101.7   22.4   294   14.1 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   11 43 45.9   -03 14 48     2.117    2.522  102.6   22.4   294   14.1 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   11 44 19.4   -03 19 08     2.105    2.522  103.5   22.3   295   14.1 

    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.