2001 MS3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Sep 2026	25.4	1.660 AU	0.739 AU	20h41m	-09°19'	143.5°	21.2°

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 2001 MS3 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5335922
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.1381854
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.46345
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 272.10446
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 320.58189
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 8.47635
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 232.77169
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.83247
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.13            
        

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
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   20 41 52.2   -09 19 07     0.739    1.660  143.5   21.2    87   25.4 
2026-09-09 03:59 UT   20 41 55.4   -09 19 36     0.741    1.662  143.4   21.2    87   25.4 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   20 42 12.3   -09 21 59     0.751    1.668  142.6   21.5    86   25.4 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   20 42 34.2   -09 24 44     0.764    1.675  141.8   21.8    86   25.5 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   20 42 57.9   -09 27 20     0.777    1.682  140.9   22.2    85   25.5 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   20 43 23.5   -09 29 47     0.789    1.690  140.1   22.5    85   25.6 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   20 43 50.8   -09 32 06     0.803    1.697  139.2   22.8    84   25.6 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   20 44 19.8   -09 34 17     0.816    1.704  138.4   23.1    84   25.7 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   20 44 50.5   -09 36 20     0.829    1.712  137.6   23.3    84   25.8 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   20 45 22.9   -09 38 13     0.842    1.719  136.8   23.6    83   25.8 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   20 45 56.9   -09 39 59     0.856    1.726  135.9   23.9    83   25.9 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   20 46 32.4   -09 41 36     0.870    1.733  135.1   24.1    83   25.9 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   20 47 09.4   -09 43 05     0.884    1.741  134.3   24.4    82   26.0 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   20 47 48.0   -09 44 25     0.897    1.748  133.5   24.6    82   26.0 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   20 48 27.9   -09 45 37     0.912    1.755  132.7   24.9    82   26.1 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   20 49 09.3   -09 46 41     0.926    1.762  131.9   25.1    81   26.1 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   20 49 52.0   -09 47 36     0.940    1.769  131.1   25.3    81   26.2 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   20 50 36.1   -09 48 24     0.954    1.776  130.3   25.5    81   26.2 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   20 51 21.5   -09 49 03     0.969    1.784  129.5   25.7    80   26.3 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   20 52 08.1   -09 49 34     0.984    1.791  128.8   25.9    80   26.3 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   20 52 55.9   -09 49 58     0.998    1.798  128.0   26.1    80   26.3 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   20 53 45.0   -09 50 13     1.013    1.805  127.2   26.2    80   26.4 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   20 54 35.1   -09 50 21     1.028    1.812  126.5   26.4    79   26.4 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   20 55 26.4   -09 50 21     1.043    1.819  125.7   26.6    79   26.5 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   20 56 18.8   -09 50 13     1.058    1.826  124.9   26.7    79   26.5 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   20 57 12.3   -09 49 58     1.074    1.833  124.2   26.8    79   26.6 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   20 58 06.8   -09 49 34     1.089    1.840  123.4   27.0    78   26.6 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   20 59 02.4   -09 49 04     1.104    1.847  122.7   27.1    78   26.7 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   20 59 59.0   -09 48 25     1.120    1.854  121.9   27.2    78   26.7 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   21 00 56.5   -09 47 40     1.136    1.861  121.2   27.4    78   26.7 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   21 01 55.0   -09 46 46     1.152    1.868  120.4   27.5    77   26.8 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   21 02 54.4   -09 45 45     1.167    1.875  119.7   27.6    77   26.8 

    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.