(17) Thetis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Sep 2024	11.2	2.476 AU	1.489 AU	00h28m	-05°08'	165.7°	5.8°
Opposition	24 Sep 2024	11.1	2.489 AU	1.492 AU	00h20m	-06°17'	172.2°	3.1°

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)                : 0.1322065
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4705496
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.59240
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 125.53228
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 135.68951
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 91.43731
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 81.35842
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.90337
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.88            
        

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
2024-09-15 00:00 UT   00 28 32.5   -05 08 19     1.489    2.476  165.7    5.8   278   11.2 
2024-09-15 16:18 UT   00 27 59.1   -05 13 22     1.488    2.477  166.4    5.5   280   11.2 
2024-09-16 00:00 UT   00 27 43.2   -05 15 45     1.488    2.477  166.7    5.4   281   11.2 
2024-09-17 00:00 UT   00 26 53.4   -05 23 10     1.487    2.479  167.6    5.0   284   11.2 
2024-09-18 00:00 UT   00 26 03.0   -05 30 33     1.487    2.480  168.6    4.6   288   11.2 
2024-09-19 00:00 UT   00 25 12.0   -05 37 53     1.487    2.481  169.4    4.3   293   11.1 
2024-09-20 00:00 UT   00 24 20.7   -05 45 10     1.487    2.483  170.2    4.0   298   11.1 
2024-09-21 00:00 UT   00 23 28.9   -05 52 24     1.488    2.484  170.9    3.7   304   11.1 
2024-09-22 00:00 UT   00 22 36.8   -05 59 34     1.489    2.486  171.4    3.4   311   11.1 
2024-09-23 00:00 UT   00 21 44.5   -06 06 39     1.490    2.487  171.9    3.3   319   11.1 
2024-09-24 00:00 UT   00 20 52.0   -06 13 39     1.491    2.489  172.1    3.2   328   11.1 
2024-09-25 00:00 UT   00 19 59.3   -06 20 34     1.493    2.490  172.2    3.1   337   11.1 
2024-09-26 00:00 UT   00 19 06.6   -06 27 23     1.495    2.491  172.1    3.2   346   11.1 
2024-09-27 00:00 UT   00 18 14.0   -06 34 06     1.497    2.493  171.8    3.3   354   11.1 
2024-09-28 00:00 UT   00 17 21.4   -06 40 42     1.499    2.494  171.3    3.5     2   11.1 
2024-09-29 00:00 UT   00 16 28.9   -06 47 10     1.502    2.496  170.7    3.7     9   11.1 
2024-09-30 00:00 UT   00 15 36.7   -06 53 31     1.505    2.497  170.0    4.0    15   11.2 
2024-10-01 00:00 UT   00 14 44.8   -06 59 43     1.508    2.499  169.2    4.3    20   11.2 
2024-10-02 00:00 UT   00 13 53.3   -07 05 47     1.511    2.500  168.3    4.6    24   11.2 
2024-10-03 00:00 UT   00 13 02.2   -07 11 42     1.515    2.501  167.4    5.0    28   11.2 
2024-10-04 00:00 UT   00 12 11.6   -07 17 27     1.519    2.503  166.5    5.4    31   11.3 
2024-10-05 00:00 UT   00 11 21.5   -07 23 02     1.524    2.504  165.5    5.8    34   11.3 
2024-10-06 00:00 UT   00 10 32.1   -07 28 28     1.528    2.506  164.4    6.2    36   11.3 
2024-10-07 00:00 UT   00 09 43.4   -07 33 42     1.533    2.507  163.4    6.5    39   11.4 
2024-10-08 00:00 UT   00 08 55.4   -07 38 46     1.538    2.509  162.3    7.0    41   11.4 
2024-10-09 00:00 UT   00 08 08.3   -07 43 39     1.543    2.510  161.2    7.4    42   11.4 
2024-10-10 00:00 UT   00 07 22.0   -07 48 21     1.549    2.511  160.1    7.8    44   11.4 
2024-10-11 00:00 UT   00 06 36.6   -07 52 51     1.555    2.513  159.1    8.2    45   11.5 
2024-10-12 00:00 UT   00 05 52.2   -07 57 10     1.561    2.514  158.0    8.6    46   11.5 
2024-10-13 00:00 UT   00 05 08.9   -08 01 16     1.567    2.516  156.9    9.0    47   11.5 
2024-10-14 00:00 UT   00 04 26.5   -08 05 11     1.574    2.517  155.7    9.4    48   11.5 
2024-10-15 00:00 UT   00 03 45.3   -08 08 53     1.581    2.518  154.6    9.8    49   11.6 

    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.