(189) Phthia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Apr 2024	14.6	2.367 AU	3.179 AU	00h17m	+04°00'	30.4°	12.4°
Opposition	9 Nov 2024	12.2	2.377 AU	1.387 AU	03h04m	+13°35'	176.4°	1.5°

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)                : 0.0359842
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4500735
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.17569
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 203.34286
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 169.52053
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 283.50597
            Epoch                           : 2023 Sep 13

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.90518
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.94013
            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. 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
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   00 17 28.2   +04 00 09     3.179    2.367   30.4   12.4   250   14.6 
2024-04-26 14:27 UT   00 18 31.1   +04 06 27     3.176    2.367   30.7   12.5   250   14.6 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   00 19 12.7   +04 10 36     3.173    2.367   30.9   12.6   250   14.6 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   00 20 57.1   +04 21 02     3.167    2.366   31.4   12.8   250   14.6 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   00 22 41.4   +04 31 26     3.161    2.366   31.9   13.0   250   14.6 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   00 24 25.6   +04 41 48     3.154    2.366   32.4   13.2   250   14.6 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   00 26 09.6   +04 52 09     3.148    2.366   32.9   13.4   250   14.6 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   00 27 53.6   +05 02 28     3.141    2.366   33.4   13.6   250   14.6 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   00 29 37.4   +05 12 45     3.135    2.366   33.9   13.8   250   14.6 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   00 31 21.2   +05 23 01     3.128    2.366   34.4   13.9   249   14.6 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   00 33 04.8   +05 33 14     3.121    2.366   34.9   14.1   249   14.6 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   00 34 48.3   +05 43 26     3.114    2.366   35.4   14.3   249   14.6 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   00 36 31.6   +05 53 35     3.107    2.365   35.9   14.5   249   14.6 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   00 38 14.9   +06 03 43     3.100    2.365   36.4   14.7   249   14.6 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   00 39 58.0   +06 13 48     3.093    2.365   36.9   14.9   249   14.6 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   00 41 41.0   +06 23 51     3.086    2.365   37.5   15.0   249   14.6 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   00 43 23.9   +06 33 51     3.078    2.365   38.0   15.2   249   14.6 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   00 45 06.6   +06 43 50     3.071    2.365   38.5   15.4   249   14.6 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   00 46 49.2   +06 53 45     3.063    2.365   39.0   15.6   249   14.6 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   00 48 31.6   +07 03 39     3.056    2.365   39.5   15.8   249   14.6 

    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.