(21) Lutetia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	15 Feb 2025	11.3	2.834 AU	1.848 AU	10h02m	+16°36'	175.7°	1.5°
Today	13 Mar 2025	11.9	2.835 AU	1.939 AU	09h39m	+18°28'	148.5°	10.5°

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 Lutetia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1647994
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4338459
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.06457
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.83700
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 249.97765
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 194.85007
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 150.78826
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.87918
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.80            
        

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
2025-03-13 00:00 UT   09 39 39.3   +18 28 11     1.939    2.835  148.5   10.5   116   11.9 
2025-03-13 17:14 UT   09 39 09.7   +18 30 06     1.944    2.835  147.7   10.8   116   11.9 
2025-03-14 00:00 UT   09 38 58.3   +18 30 51     1.946    2.835  147.4   10.9   116   11.9 
2025-03-15 00:00 UT   09 38 18.7   +18 33 22     1.954    2.835  146.2   11.2   115   11.9 
2025-03-16 00:00 UT   09 37 40.4   +18 35 44     1.961    2.835  145.1   11.6   115   11.9 
2025-03-17 00:00 UT   09 37 03.5   +18 37 58     1.969    2.835  144.0   11.9   115   12.0 
2025-03-18 00:00 UT   09 36 28.0   +18 40 02     1.977    2.835  142.8   12.2   114   12.0 
2025-03-19 00:00 UT   09 35 53.9   +18 41 58     1.985    2.835  141.7   12.6   114   12.0 
2025-03-20 00:00 UT   09 35 21.3   +18 43 46     1.994    2.835  140.6   12.9   114   12.0 
2025-03-21 00:00 UT   09 34 50.1   +18 45 24     2.002    2.834  139.5   13.2   114   12.0 
2025-03-22 00:00 UT   09 34 20.4   +18 46 54     2.011    2.834  138.4   13.5   113   12.1 
2025-03-23 00:00 UT   09 33 52.1   +18 48 15     2.020    2.834  137.3   13.8   113   12.1 
2025-03-24 00:00 UT   09 33 25.4   +18 49 28     2.030    2.834  136.2   14.1   113   12.1 
2025-03-25 00:00 UT   09 33 00.2   +18 50 32     2.039    2.834  135.1   14.4   113   12.1 
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   09 32 36.6   +18 51 27     2.049    2.834  134.0   14.7   113   12.1 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   09 32 14.5   +18 52 14     2.058    2.834  132.9   14.9   112   12.2 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   09 31 54.0   +18 52 52     2.068    2.834  131.9   15.2   112   12.2 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   09 31 35.0   +18 53 21     2.078    2.834  130.8   15.5   112   12.2 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   09 31 17.6   +18 53 43     2.089    2.834  129.8   15.7   112   12.2 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   09 31 01.8   +18 53 56     2.099    2.833  128.7   16.0   112   12.2 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   09 30 47.6   +18 54 01     2.110    2.833  127.7   16.2   112   12.3 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   09 30 35.0   +18 53 57     2.120    2.833  126.7   16.4   111   12.3 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   09 30 23.9   +18 53 45     2.131    2.833  125.6   16.7   111   12.3 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   09 30 14.5   +18 53 26     2.142    2.833  124.6   16.9   111   12.3 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   09 30 06.6   +18 52 58     2.154    2.833  123.6   17.1   111   12.3 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   09 30 00.2   +18 52 23     2.165    2.833  122.6   17.3   111   12.4 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   09 29 55.5   +18 51 40     2.176    2.832  121.6   17.5   111   12.4 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   09 29 52.2   +18 50 49     2.188    2.832  120.6   17.7   111   12.4 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   09 29 50.5   +18 49 51     2.199    2.832  119.7   17.9   111   12.4 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   09 29 50.3   +18 48 46     2.211    2.832  118.7   18.1   111   12.4 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   09 29 51.7   +18 47 33     2.223    2.832  117.7   18.3   110   12.4 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   09 29 54.5   +18 46 13     2.235    2.831  116.8   18.4   110   12.5 

    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.