(189) Phthia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Jan 2026	13.8	2.526 AU	1.909 AU	11h50m	-04°07'	118.0°	20.1°
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
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   11 50 12.5   -04 07 46     1.909    2.526  118.0   20.1   296   13.8 
2026-01-18 04:31 UT   11 50 14.5   -04 08 05     1.907    2.526  118.2   20.1   296   13.8 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   11 50 22.3   -04 09 22     1.898    2.526  119.0   19.9   296   13.8 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   11 50 30.5   -04 10 48     1.886    2.526  120.0   19.7   296   13.8 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   11 50 37.1   -04 12 02     1.875    2.526  120.9   19.5   296   13.7 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   11 50 42.2   -04 13 05     1.864    2.526  121.9   19.3   296   13.7 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   11 50 45.7   -04 13 57     1.853    2.527  122.9   19.1   297   13.7 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   11 50 47.6   -04 14 37     1.842    2.527  123.9   18.9   297   13.7 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   11 50 48.0   -04 15 05     1.831    2.527  124.9   18.6   297   13.7 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   11 50 46.8   -04 15 22     1.820    2.527  125.9   18.4   297   13.6 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   11 50 44.0   -04 15 27     1.810    2.528  127.0   18.1   297   13.6 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   11 50 39.6   -04 15 20     1.800    2.528  128.0   17.9   297   13.6 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   11 50 33.6   -04 15 01     1.789    2.528  129.0   17.6   297   13.6 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   11 50 26.0   -04 14 30     1.779    2.528  130.1   17.3   298   13.6 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   11 50 16.9   -04 13 47     1.769    2.528  131.1   17.1   298   13.5 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   11 50 06.1   -04 12 52     1.759    2.529  132.2   16.8   298   13.5 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   11 49 53.8   -04 11 45     1.750    2.529  133.2   16.5   298   13.5 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   11 49 39.9   -04 10 25     1.740    2.529  134.3   16.2   298   13.5 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   11 49 24.4   -04 08 53     1.731    2.529  135.4   15.9   298   13.5 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   11 49 07.3   -04 07 08     1.722    2.529  136.5   15.6   299   13.4 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   11 48 48.6   -04 05 11     1.713    2.530  137.5   15.3   299   13.4 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   11 48 28.4   -04 03 01     1.704    2.530  138.6   14.9   299   13.4 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   11 48 06.6   -04 00 39     1.696    2.530  139.7   14.6   299   13.4 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   11 47 43.3   -03 58 04     1.687    2.530  140.9   14.3   299   13.3 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   11 47 18.5   -03 55 17     1.679    2.530  142.0   13.9   300   13.3 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   11 46 52.1   -03 52 17     1.671    2.531  143.1   13.5   300   13.3 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   11 46 24.3   -03 49 05     1.663    2.531  144.2   13.2   300   13.3 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   11 45 55.0   -03 45 40     1.656    2.531  145.4   12.8   301   13.2 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   11 45 24.2   -03 42 03     1.648    2.531  146.5   12.4   301   13.2 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   11 44 52.0   -03 38 14     1.641    2.531  147.6   12.1   301   13.2 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   11 44 18.5   -03 34 12     1.634    2.532  148.8   11.7   301   13.2 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   11 43 43.6   -03 29 59     1.628    2.532  149.9   11.3   302   13.2 

    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.