(9) Metis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Apr 2026	11.6	2.579 AU	3.033 AU	21h21m	-19°14'	54.2°	18.3°
Opposition	28 Aug 2026	9.2	2.401 AU	1.399 AU	22h41m	-18°35'	170.4°	4.0°

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 Metis are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1225645
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3865665
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.57771
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 68.86978
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.89591
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 199.19648
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 74.73797
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.57206
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   21 21 35.8   -19 14 48     3.033    2.579   54.2   18.3   250   11.6 
2026-04-01 13:37 UT   21 22 29.6   -19 11 35     3.026    2.578   54.5   18.4   249   11.6 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   21 23 10.4   -19 09 08     3.021    2.578   54.8   18.5   249   11.6 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   21 24 44.6   -19 03 27     3.010    2.577   55.4   18.6   249   11.6 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   21 26 18.4   -18 57 46     2.998    2.576   56.0   18.8   249   11.6 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   21 27 51.7   -18 52 06     2.986    2.575   56.6   18.9   249   11.6 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   21 29 24.6   -18 46 25     2.974    2.574   57.2   19.1   249   11.6 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   21 30 57.1   -18 40 44     2.962    2.573   57.8   19.2   249   11.6 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   21 32 29.2   -18 35 04     2.951    2.572   58.4   19.4   249   11.6 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   21 34 00.8   -18 29 24     2.939    2.571   59.0   19.5   249   11.6 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   21 35 32.0   -18 23 44     2.926    2.570   59.6   19.7   249   11.6 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   21 37 02.7   -18 18 05     2.914    2.569   60.3   19.8   249   11.5 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   21 38 33.0   -18 12 27     2.902    2.568   60.9   19.9   249   11.5 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   21 40 02.8   -18 06 49     2.890    2.567   61.5   20.1   249   11.5 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   21 41 32.1   -18 01 12     2.877    2.566   62.1   20.2   249   11.5 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   21 43 01.0   -17 55 37     2.865    2.565   62.7   20.3   249   11.5 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   21 44 29.4   -17 50 02     2.853    2.564   63.3   20.5   249   11.5 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   21 45 57.3   -17 44 28     2.840    2.563   63.9   20.6   249   11.5 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   21 47 24.7   -17 38 55     2.827    2.562   64.6   20.7   249   11.5 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   21 48 51.5   -17 33 24     2.815    2.561   65.2   20.8   249   11.5 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   21 50 17.9   -17 27 55     2.802    2.560   65.8   21.0   248   11.5 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   21 51 43.8   -17 22 26     2.789    2.559   66.4   21.1   248   11.5 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   21 53 09.2   -17 16 60     2.776    2.558   67.1   21.2   248   11.5 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   21 54 34.0   -17 11 35     2.764    2.557   67.7   21.3   248   11.5 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   21 55 58.3   -17 06 12     2.751    2.556   68.3   21.4   248   11.5 

    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.