(17) Thetis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	29 Apr 2026	13.4	2.692 AU	2.952 AU	06h59m	+22°33'	65.4°	19.9°
Opposition	26 Apr 2027	10.5	2.224 AU	1.227 AU	14h31m	-04°11'	169.7°	4.6°

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 Thetis are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1312584
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4728226
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.59392
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 125.50276
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 135.94950
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 192.66165
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 81.58893
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.88621
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.89            
        

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
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   06 59 24.1   +22 33 43     2.952    2.692   65.4   19.9    96   13.4 
2026-04-29 21:48 UT   07 00 37.2   +22 33 03     2.962    2.692   64.8   19.8    96   13.4 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   07 00 44.6   +22 32 58     2.963    2.691   64.7   19.8    96   13.4 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   07 02 05.8   +22 32 09     2.975    2.690   64.0   19.7    96   13.4 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   07 03 27.5   +22 31 16     2.986    2.689   63.4   19.6    96   13.4 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   07 04 49.8   +22 30 19     2.997    2.689   62.7   19.5    96   13.4 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   07 06 12.7   +22 29 18     3.008    2.688   62.1   19.4    97   13.4 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   07 07 36.2   +22 28 12     3.019    2.687   61.4   19.2    97   13.4 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   07 09 00.2   +22 27 03     3.030    2.686   60.8   19.1    97   13.4 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   07 10 24.7   +22 25 49     3.040    2.685   60.1   19.0    97   13.4 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   07 11 49.8   +22 24 31     3.051    2.684   59.5   18.9    97   13.4 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   07 13 15.5   +22 23 09     3.062    2.683   58.9   18.8    97   13.4 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   07 14 41.6   +22 21 43     3.072    2.682   58.2   18.7    97   13.4 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   07 16 08.3   +22 20 13     3.083    2.680   57.6   18.5    97   13.4 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   07 17 35.4   +22 18 38     3.093    2.679   57.0   18.4    98   13.5 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   07 19 03.0   +22 16 59     3.103    2.678   56.3   18.3    98   13.5 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   07 20 31.1   +22 15 15     3.113    2.677   55.7   18.2    98   13.5 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   07 21 59.7   +22 13 28     3.123    2.676   55.1   18.0    98   13.5 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   07 23 28.8   +22 11 35     3.133    2.675   54.5   17.9    98   13.5 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   07 24 58.3   +22 09 39     3.143    2.674   53.9   17.8    98   13.5 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   07 26 28.2   +22 07 38     3.153    2.673   53.2   17.6    98   13.5 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   07 27 58.5   +22 05 33     3.163    2.672   52.6   17.5    98   13.5 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   07 29 29.3   +22 03 23     3.172    2.671   52.0   17.4    99   13.5 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   07 31 00.5   +22 01 09     3.182    2.670   51.4   17.2    99   13.5 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   07 32 32.0   +21 58 50     3.191    2.669   50.8   17.1    99   13.5 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   07 34 04.0   +21 56 27     3.200    2.668   50.2   16.9    99   13.5 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   07 35 36.3   +21 53 59     3.210    2.667   49.6   16.8    99   13.5 

    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.