(189) Phthia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	17 Feb 2026	13.2	2.532 AU	1.628 AU	11h43m	-03°29'	149.9°	11.3°
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)                : 0.0372475
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4504721
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.17306
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 203.27286
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 169.29423
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 129.27474
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.60969
            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
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   11 43 43.6   -03 29 59     1.628    2.532  149.9   11.3   302   13.2 
2026-02-17 05:16 UT   11 43 35.8   -03 29 02     1.626    2.532  150.2   11.2   302   13.1 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   11 43 07.4   -03 25 34     1.621    2.532  151.1   10.9   302   13.1 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   11 42 29.9   -03 20 57     1.615    2.532  152.3   10.5   303   13.1 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   11 41 51.2   -03 16 09     1.609    2.532  153.4   10.1   303   13.1 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   11 41 11.3   -03 11 10     1.603    2.532  154.6    9.6   304   13.1 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   11 40 30.2   -03 05 60     1.598    2.533  155.8    9.2   304   13.0 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   11 39 48.1   -03 00 39     1.592    2.533  157.0    8.8   305   13.0 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   11 39 04.9   -02 55 08     1.587    2.533  158.2    8.4   305   13.0 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   11 38 20.7   -02 49 26     1.583    2.533  159.3    7.9   306   13.0 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   11 37 35.5   -02 43 36     1.578    2.533  160.5    7.5   307   12.9 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   11 36 49.5   -02 37 35     1.574    2.533  161.7    7.0   308   12.9 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   11 36 02.6   -02 31 26     1.570    2.534  162.9    6.6   309   12.9 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   11 35 15.0   -02 25 08     1.566    2.534  164.1    6.2   310   12.9 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   11 34 26.6   -02 18 42     1.563    2.534  165.3    5.7   311   12.8 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   11 33 37.6   -02 12 07     1.560    2.534  166.4    5.3   313   12.8 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   11 32 47.9   -02 05 25     1.557    2.534  167.6    4.8   315   12.8 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   11 31 57.7   -01 58 36     1.554    2.534  168.7    4.4   317   12.7 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   11 31 07.0   -01 51 40     1.552    2.535  169.9    3.9   320   12.7 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   11 30 15.9   -01 44 38     1.550    2.535  171.0    3.5   323   12.7 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   11 29 24.5   -01 37 30     1.548    2.535  172.0    3.1   328   12.7 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   11 28 32.7   -01 30 16     1.547    2.535  173.0    2.7   333   12.6 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   11 27 40.7   -01 22 58     1.546    2.535  174.0    2.4   341   12.6 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   11 26 48.5   -01 15 35     1.545    2.535  174.7    2.1   351   12.6 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   11 25 56.3   -01 08 08     1.544    2.535  175.3    1.8     4   12.6 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   11 25 04.0   -01 00 37     1.544    2.536  175.6    1.7    19   12.6 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   11 24 11.7   +00 53 03     1.543    2.536  175.5    1.7    35   12.6 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   11 23 19.6   +00 45 27     1.544    2.536  175.2    1.9    50   12.6 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   11 22 27.6   +00 37 49     1.544    2.536  174.5    2.2    62   12.6 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   11 21 35.9   +00 30 09     1.545    2.536  173.7    2.5    71   12.6 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   11 20 44.5   +00 22 29     1.546    2.536  172.7    2.8    78   12.6 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   11 19 53.5   +00 14 48     1.547    2.536  171.7    3.2    83   12.7 

    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.