(17) Thetis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	11 Oct 2026	13.2	2.490 AU	3.346 AU	11h31m	+05°42'	26.2°	10.2°
Opposition	26 Apr 2027	10.5	2.226 AU	1.229 AU	14h30m	-04°08'	169.8°	4.6°

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 Thetis are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1308313
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4729409
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.59611
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 125.49572
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 136.16115
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 243.07058
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 81.79361
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.87284
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.89            
        

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
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   11 31 36.8   +05 42 24     3.346    2.490   26.2   10.2   298   13.2 
2026-10-11 05:19 UT   11 31 59.2   +05 40 16     3.345    2.489   26.3   10.2   298   13.2 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   11 33 17.9   +05 32 48     3.339    2.488   26.7   10.4   298   13.2 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   11 34 58.9   +05 23 12     3.332    2.487   27.3   10.6   298   13.2 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   11 36 39.8   +05 13 36     3.324    2.486   27.8   10.8   298   13.2 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   11 38 20.6   +05 03 60     3.316    2.484   28.4   11.0   298   13.2 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   11 40 01.4   +04 54 24     3.308    2.483   28.9   11.2   298   13.2 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   11 41 42.2   +04 44 49     3.300    2.481   29.4   11.4   298   13.2 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   11 43 22.8   +04 35 14     3.292    2.480   30.0   11.6   298   13.2 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   11 45 03.4   +04 25 40     3.284    2.478   30.5   11.8   298   13.2 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   11 46 43.9   +04 16 06     3.276    2.477   31.1   12.0   298   13.2 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   11 48 24.3   +04 06 32     3.268    2.476   31.6   12.2   298   13.2 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   11 50 04.7   +03 56 59     3.259    2.474   32.2   12.4   298   13.2 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   11 51 44.9   +03 47 27     3.251    2.473   32.7   12.6   298   13.2 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   11 53 25.1   +03 37 55     3.242    2.471   33.3   12.8   298   13.2 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   11 55 05.3   +03 28 25     3.233    2.470   33.8   13.0   297   13.2 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   11 56 45.3   +03 18 54     3.224    2.468   34.4   13.1   297   13.2 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   11 58 25.3   +03 09 25     3.215    2.467   34.9   13.3   297   13.2 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   12 00 05.2   +02 59 57     3.206    2.466   35.5   13.5   297   13.2 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   12 01 45.0   +02 50 30     3.197    2.464   36.0   13.7   297   13.2 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   12 03 24.8   +02 41 03     3.188    2.463   36.6   13.9   297   13.2 

    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.