(24) Themis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	13 Jan 2026	13.2	3.034 AU	3.521 AU	15h48m	-20°06'	53.1°	15.0°
Opposition	30 May 2026	11.5	3.188 AU	2.174 AU	16h29m	-22°24'	179.3°	0.2°

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 Themis are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1153430
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1432542
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.73670
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 36.39211
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 109.10764
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 56.76453
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -34.49878
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.69611
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.57            
        

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
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   15 48 36.6   -20 06 10     3.521    3.034   53.1   15.0   282   13.2 
2026-01-13 06:54 UT   15 48 59.8   -20 07 24     3.518    3.034   53.3   15.1   282   13.2 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   15 49 57.1   -20 10 28     3.511    3.035   53.8   15.2   282   13.2 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   15 51 17.2   -20 14 42     3.501    3.036   54.4   15.3   282   13.2 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   15 52 36.8   -20 18 53     3.490    3.037   55.1   15.4   282   13.2 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   15 53 56.0   -20 22 60     3.479    3.038   55.9   15.5   282   13.2 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   15 55 14.8   -20 27 03     3.469    3.039   56.6   15.7   282   13.2 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   15 56 33.1   -20 31 02     3.458    3.041   57.3   15.8   282   13.2 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   15 57 50.9   -20 34 58     3.447    3.042   58.0   15.9   282   13.2 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   15 59 08.2   -20 38 50     3.436    3.043   58.7   16.0   281   13.2 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   16 00 25.0   -20 42 38     3.425    3.044   59.4   16.2   281   13.2 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   16 01 41.3   -20 46 23     3.414    3.045   60.1   16.3   281   13.2 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   16 02 57.1   -20 50 04     3.402    3.046   60.8   16.4   281   13.2 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   16 04 12.4   -20 53 41     3.391    3.047   61.5   16.5   281   13.2 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   16 05 27.1   -20 57 15     3.379    3.048   62.3   16.6   281   13.2 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   16 06 41.2   -21 00 45     3.368    3.049   63.0   16.7   281   13.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   16 07 54.8   -21 04 12     3.356    3.051   63.7   16.8   281   13.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   16 09 07.8   -21 07 35     3.345    3.052   64.4   16.9   281   13.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   16 10 20.2   -21 10 54     3.333    3.053   65.2   17.0   280   13.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   16 11 32.0   -21 14 10     3.321    3.054   65.9   17.1   280   13.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   16 12 43.2   -21 17 23     3.309    3.055   66.6   17.2   280   13.2 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   16 13 53.8   -21 20 32     3.297    3.056   67.4   17.3   280   13.1 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   16 15 03.8   -21 23 37     3.285    3.057   68.1   17.4   280   13.1 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   16 16 13.1   -21 26 40     3.273    3.058   68.8   17.5   280   13.1 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   16 17 21.8   -21 29 38     3.261    3.059   69.6   17.6   280   13.1 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   16 18 29.8   -21 32 34     3.248    3.061   70.3   17.7   280   13.1 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   16 19 37.2   -21 35 26     3.236    3.062   71.1   17.7   280   13.1 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   16 20 43.8   -21 38 14     3.224    3.063   71.8   17.8   280   13.1 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   16 21 49.7   -21 40 60     3.211    3.064   72.6   17.9   279   13.1 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   16 22 54.9   -21 43 42     3.199    3.065   73.3   18.0   279   13.1 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   16 23 59.4   -21 46 21     3.186    3.066   74.1   18.0   279   13.1 

    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.