(16) Psyche
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today19 Apr 202511.32.531 AU3.519 AU01h18m+06°28'8.5°3.4°
Opposition7 Dec 20259.72.670 AU1.687 AU05h01m+18°00'175.2°1.8°
(16) Psyche - 2025-04-19
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 Psyche are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1340603
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.9221228
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.09735
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 150.01955
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 229.63980
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 1.28217
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 199.61801
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.35966
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.00            
        

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
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   01 18 02.4   +06 28 38     3.519    2.531    8.5    3.4   237   11.3 
2025-04-19 04:59 UT   01 18 24.1   +06 30 43     3.519    2.531    8.6    3.4   237   11.3 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   01 19 46.9   +06 38 38     3.518    2.531    9.0    3.6   238   11.3 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   01 21 31.4   +06 48 35     3.516    2.531    9.6    3.8   238   11.3 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   01 23 16.0   +06 58 30     3.514    2.531   10.1    4.0   239   11.3 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   01 25 00.6   +07 08 23     3.512    2.530   10.6    4.2   239   11.3 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   01 26 45.2   +07 18 14     3.510    2.530   11.1    4.4   240   11.3 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   01 28 29.9   +07 28 03     3.508    2.530   11.6    4.6   240   11.3 
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   01 30 14.6   +07 37 49     3.506    2.530   12.1    4.8   241   11.3 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   01 31 59.3   +07 47 32     3.503    2.530   12.6    5.0   241   11.4 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   01 33 44.0   +07 57 14     3.501    2.530   13.1    5.2   241   11.4 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   01 35 28.8   +08 06 52     3.498    2.530   13.6    5.4   242   11.4 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   01 37 13.5   +08 16 28     3.495    2.530   14.1    5.6   242   11.4 
2025-05-01 00:00 UT   01 38 58.3   +08 26 01     3.492    2.530   14.6    5.8   242   11.4 
2025-05-02 00:00 UT   01 40 43.1   +08 35 32     3.489    2.530   15.1    6.0   242   11.4 
2025-05-03 00:00 UT   01 42 27.9   +08 44 60     3.486    2.530   15.6    6.2   243   11.4 
2025-05-04 00:00 UT   01 44 12.7   +08 54 25     3.483    2.530   16.2    6.4   243   11.4 
2025-05-05 00:00 UT   01 45 57.5   +09 03 47     3.480    2.531   16.7    6.6   243   11.4 
2025-05-06 00:00 UT   01 47 42.4   +09 13 06     3.477    2.531   17.2    6.8   244   11.4 
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   01 49 27.2   +09 22 22     3.473    2.531   17.7    7.0   244   11.4 


    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.