(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Mar 2025	10.8	2.603 AU	1.946 AU	15h39m	-15°28'	121.0°	19.1°
Opposition	8 May 2025	9.7	2.640 AU	1.632 AU	15h08m	-14°19'	176.7°	1.3°

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 Metis are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1226466
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3863770
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.57803
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 68.86994
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.85523
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 145.77823
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 74.69764
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.56816
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.69            
        

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
2025-03-18 00:00 UT   15 39 22.4   -15 28 05     1.946    2.603  121.0   19.1   281   10.8 
2025-03-18 06:51 UT   15 39 23.5   -15 28 10     1.943    2.603  121.3   19.1   281   10.8 
2025-03-19 00:00 UT   15 39 25.6   -15 28 21     1.936    2.604  122.0   18.9   281   10.8 
2025-03-20 00:00 UT   15 39 27.0   -15 28 33     1.925    2.604  123.0   18.7   281   10.8 
2025-03-21 00:00 UT   15 39 26.7   -15 28 41     1.914    2.605  124.0   18.5   281   10.8 
2025-03-22 00:00 UT   15 39 24.7   -15 28 44     1.904    2.606  125.0   18.3   281   10.8 
2025-03-23 00:00 UT   15 39 20.9   -15 28 42     1.894    2.607  126.0   18.0   280   10.7 
2025-03-24 00:00 UT   15 39 15.4   -15 28 36     1.884    2.608  127.0   17.8   280   10.7 
2025-03-25 00:00 UT   15 39 08.2   -15 28 25     1.874    2.609  128.0   17.5   280   10.7 
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   15 38 59.2   -15 28 09     1.864    2.609  129.0   17.3   280   10.7 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   15 38 48.4   -15 27 49     1.854    2.610  130.0   17.0   280   10.7 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   15 38 35.9   -15 27 25     1.844    2.611  131.1   16.7   280   10.6 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   15 38 21.6   -15 26 56     1.835    2.612  132.1   16.5   280   10.6 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   15 38 05.5   -15 26 23     1.826    2.613  133.2   16.2   280   10.6 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   15 37 47.7   -15 25 45     1.817    2.613  134.2   15.9   280   10.6 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   15 37 28.2   -15 25 03     1.808    2.614  135.3   15.6   279   10.6 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   15 37 06.9   -15 24 17     1.799    2.615  136.4   15.3   279   10.5 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   15 36 43.9   -15 23 26     1.790    2.616  137.4   15.0   279   10.5 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   15 36 19.2   -15 22 32     1.782    2.616  138.5   14.7   279   10.5 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   15 35 52.8   -15 21 33     1.774    2.617  139.6   14.3   279   10.5 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   15 35 24.8   -15 20 31     1.766    2.618  140.7   14.0   279   10.5 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   15 34 55.1   -15 19 24     1.758    2.619  141.8   13.7   279   10.4 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   15 34 23.7   -15 18 14     1.750    2.620  142.9   13.3   279   10.4 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   15 33 50.8   -15 16 60     1.743    2.620  144.0   13.0   278   10.4 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   15 33 16.2   -15 15 42     1.736    2.621  145.1   12.6   278   10.4 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   15 32 40.1   -15 14 20     1.729    2.622  146.2   12.3   278   10.4 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   15 32 02.5   -15 12 55     1.722    2.623  147.4   11.9   278   10.3 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   15 31 23.3   -15 11 26     1.715    2.623  148.5   11.5   278   10.3 
2025-04-14 00:00 UT   15 30 42.7   -15 09 54     1.709    2.624  149.6   11.1   278   10.3 
2025-04-15 00:00 UT   15 30 00.6   -15 08 18     1.703    2.625  150.8   10.8   277   10.3 
2025-04-16 00:00 UT   15 29 17.1   -15 06 39     1.697    2.625  151.9   10.4   277   10.2 
2025-04-17 00:00 UT   15 28 32.3   -15 04 57     1.692    2.626  153.1   10.0   277   10.2 

    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.