(20) Massalia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	21 Mar 2026	9.0	2.287 AU	1.291 AU	12h01m	-00°46'	179.4°	0.2°
Today	2 Apr 2026	9.4	2.305 AU	1.323 AU	11h51m	+00°24'	166.0°	6.0°

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 Massalia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1437636
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4084078
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.70925
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 205.95448
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 257.23336
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 29.99984
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 283.18689
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.69172
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.74            
        

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
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   11 51 34.6   +00 24 24     1.323    2.305  166.0    6.0   112    9.4 
2026-04-02 07:34 UT   11 51 19.2   +00 26 12     1.324    2.306  165.6    6.2   112    9.4 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   11 50 46.1   +00 30 05     1.327    2.307  164.8    6.5   112    9.5 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   11 49 58.7   +00 35 41     1.332    2.308  163.6    7.0   112    9.5 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   11 49 12.3   +00 41 09     1.337    2.310  162.4    7.5   112    9.5 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   11 48 27.0   +00 46 31     1.342    2.312  161.2    8.0   112    9.6 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   11 47 42.9   +00 51 45     1.347    2.313  160.0    8.5   112    9.6 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   11 47 00.0   +00 56 51     1.353    2.315  158.8    9.0   112    9.6 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   11 46 18.4   +01 01 49     1.359    2.316  157.7    9.5   112    9.7 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   11 45 38.1   +01 06 38     1.365    2.318  156.5    9.9   112    9.7 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   11 44 59.1   +01 11 19     1.371    2.320  155.3   10.4   113    9.7 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   11 44 21.5   +01 15 51     1.378    2.321  154.2   10.8   113    9.7 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   11 43 45.4   +01 20 13     1.384    2.323  153.0   11.3   113    9.8 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   11 43 10.7   +01 24 26     1.391    2.324  151.9   11.7   113    9.8 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   11 42 37.5   +01 28 29     1.399    2.326  150.7   12.2   113    9.8 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   11 42 05.9   +01 32 22     1.406    2.328  149.6   12.6   113    9.9 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   11 41 35.8   +01 36 04     1.414    2.329  148.5   13.0   113    9.9 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   11 41 07.3   +01 39 37     1.421    2.331  147.4   13.4   113    9.9 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   11 40 40.5   +01 42 58     1.429    2.332  146.3   13.8   113    9.9 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   11 40 15.2   +01 46 09     1.438    2.334  145.2   14.2   113   10.0 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   11 39 51.6   +01 49 09     1.446    2.336  144.1   14.6   113   10.0 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   11 39 29.7   +01 51 59     1.455    2.337  143.0   15.0   113   10.0 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   11 39 09.5   +01 54 37     1.464    2.339  142.0   15.4   113   10.1 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   11 38 51.0   +01 57 04     1.473    2.340  140.9   15.7   113   10.1 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   11 38 34.1   +01 59 19     1.482    2.342  139.8   16.1   113   10.1 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   11 38 18.9   +02 01 24     1.491    2.344  138.8   16.4   113   10.1 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   11 38 05.5   +02 03 18     1.501    2.345  137.8   16.8   113   10.2 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   11 37 53.7   +02 05 00     1.510    2.347  136.7   17.1   113   10.2 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   11 37 43.6   +02 06 32     1.520    2.349  135.7   17.4   113   10.2 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   11 37 35.2   +02 07 52     1.530    2.350  134.7   17.7   113   10.2 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   11 37 28.4   +02 09 01     1.540    2.352  133.7   18.0   113   10.3 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   11 37 23.4   +02 09 59     1.550    2.353  132.7   18.3   113   10.3 

    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.