(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Apr 2025	10.2	2.628 AU	1.681 AU	15h26m	-15°01'	155.4°	9.2°
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)              : 2.3863771
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.57803
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 68.86994
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.85524
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 145.77822
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 74.69765
            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
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   15 26 58.6   -15 01 24     1.681    2.628  155.4    9.2   276   10.2 
2025-04-19 21:26 UT   15 26 15.1   -14 59 44     1.677    2.628  156.4    8.8   276   10.2 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   15 26 09.8   -14 59 32     1.676    2.628  156.6    8.7   276   10.2 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   15 25 19.8   -14 57 38     1.671    2.629  157.7    8.3   276   10.1 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   15 24 28.7   -14 55 42     1.667    2.630  158.9    7.9   275   10.1 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   15 23 36.5   -14 53 43     1.663    2.630  160.1    7.5   275   10.1 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   15 22 43.2   -14 51 41     1.659    2.631  161.2    7.1   274   10.1 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   15 21 48.9   -14 49 38     1.655    2.632  162.4    6.6   273   10.0 
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   15 20 53.6   -14 47 32     1.652    2.632  163.6    6.2   273   10.0 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   15 19 57.5   -14 45 24     1.649    2.633  164.8    5.8   272   10.0 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   15 19 00.5   -14 43 15     1.646    2.634  165.9    5.3   271   10.0 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   15 18 02.8   -14 41 05     1.643    2.634  167.1    4.9   270    9.9 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   15 17 04.4   -14 38 53     1.641    2.635  168.3    4.5   268    9.9 
2025-05-01 00:00 UT   15 16 05.4   -14 36 40     1.639    2.636  169.4    4.0   267    9.9 
2025-05-02 00:00 UT   15 15 05.9   -14 34 27     1.637    2.636  170.6    3.6   264    9.9 
2025-05-03 00:00 UT   15 14 05.8   -14 32 12     1.635    2.637  171.7    3.2   262    9.8 
2025-05-04 00:00 UT   15 13 05.4   -14 29 58     1.634    2.638  172.8    2.7   258    9.8 
2025-05-05 00:00 UT   15 12 04.6   -14 27 43     1.633    2.638  173.9    2.3   253    9.8 
2025-05-06 00:00 UT   15 11 03.6   -14 25 28     1.633    2.639  174.9    1.9   246    9.7 
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   15 10 02.3   -14 23 14     1.632    2.639  175.8    1.6   236    9.7 
2025-05-08 00:00 UT   15 09 00.9   -14 20 60     1.632    2.640  176.5    1.3   221    9.7 
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   15 07 59.5   -14 18 46     1.632    2.641  176.8    1.2   201    9.7 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   15 06 58.1   -14 16 34     1.633    2.641  176.7    1.2   179    9.7 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   15 05 56.7   -14 14 22     1.633    2.642  176.2    1.4   161    9.7 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   15 04 55.5   -14 12 12     1.634    2.642  175.5    1.7   148    9.7 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   15 03 54.4   -14 10 04     1.636    2.643  174.5    2.1   139    9.8 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   15 02 53.7   -14 07 57     1.637    2.644  173.5    2.5   133    9.8 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   15 01 53.3   -14 05 52     1.639    2.644  172.4    2.9   129    9.8 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   15 00 53.2   -14 03 49     1.641    2.645  171.3    3.3   126    9.9 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   14 59 53.7   -14 01 49     1.643    2.645  170.2    3.7   123    9.9 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   14 58 54.6   -13 59 51     1.646    2.646  169.0    4.2   121    9.9 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   14 57 56.2   -13 57 56     1.649    2.647  167.9    4.6   120    9.9 

    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.