Asteroid 20 Massalia
Asteroid 20 Massalia was discovered by astronomer Annibale de Gasparis on September 19, 1852. It is named after the ancient Greek city of Massalia, which is now modern-day Marseille, France. Massalia is a relatively large and bright asteroid, with a diameter of about 146 kilometers. It is classified as an S-type asteroid, meaning that it is composed primarily of silicate rock and metal. Massalia has a relatively short rotation period of just over 6 hours and orbits the Sun every 4.3 years at an average distance of 2.41 astronomical units (AU).
Asteroid 20 Massalia is currently in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 451,066,968 kilometers from Earth.
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Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 20 Massalia from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- 20 Massalia is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom.
- Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 26° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 20 Massalia is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 4 inches (100mm) or more.
- Go to interactive sky chart
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Asteroid 20 Massalia Position and Finder Charts
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 20 Massalia is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Asteroid 20 Massalia?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 20 Massalia in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Asteroid 20 Massalia Distance from Earth
The distance of Asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth is currently 451,066,968 kilometers, equivalent to 3.015196 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25 minutes and 4.5975 seconds to travel from Asteroid 20 Massalia and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 20 Massalia from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Asteroid 20 Massalia to Earth
Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 20 Massalia to Earth happens on Mon Jan 6 2048 at a distance of 1.077062 Astronomical Units, or 161,126,212 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Asteroid 20 Massalia Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 20 Massalia, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Asteroid 20 Massalia Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 20 Massalia at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Element | Symbol | Value |
---|---|---|
Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.14328810 |
Orbit inclination | i | 0.70919118° |
Perihelion distance | q | 2.06345443 AU 308,688,390 km |
Aphelion distance | Q |
2.75369454 AU 411,946,840 km |
Semi-major axis | a |
2.40857448 AU 360,317,615 km |
Orbital period | period |
3.7381 years 1,365.3329 days |
Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2021-Nov-04 02:43:02 2,459,522.6132 JD |
Next perihelion transit | 2025-Jul-31 10:42 2,460,887.9461 JD |
|
Argument of perihelion | peri | 257.50682680841° |
Longitude of the ascending node | node | 205.9677482734° |
Mean anomaly | M | 126.00534306121° |
Mean motion | n | 0.26367196°/day |
Visualization of Asteroid 20 Massalia Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 20 Massalia with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 20 Massalia and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Asteroid 20 Massalia in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Asteroid 20 Massalia Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 20 Massalia. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
---|---|---|
Diameter | 145.5 km | 0.0114 |
Sideral Rotation | 8.0980 hours | 0.3383 |
Absolute Magnitude | 6.5 | |
Geometric Albedo | 0.2096 |
Asteroid 20 Massalia 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 20 Massalia computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 20 Massalia in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 May 01 | 23h 15m 23s | -04° 15’ 28” | 11.97 | Aquarius |
2024 May 02 | 23h 16m 45s | -04° 06’ 33” | 11.97 | Aquarius |
2024 May 03 | 23h 18m 10s | -03° 57’ 42” | 11.96 | Aquarius |
2024 May 04 | 23h 19m 32s | -03° 48’ 51” | 11.96 | Aquarius |
2024 May 05 | 23h 20m 56s | -03° 40’ 00” | 11.95 | Aquarius |
2024 May 06 | 23h 22m 18s | -03° 31’ 11” | 11.95 | Aquarius |
2024 May 07 | 23h 23m 40s | -03° 22’ 24” | 11.94 | Aquarius |
2024 May 08 | 23h 25m 03s | -03° 13’ 39” | 11.94 | Pisces |
2024 May 09 | 23h 26m 25s | -03° 04’ 54” | 11.93 | Pisces |
2024 May 10 | 23h 27m 46s | -02° 56’ 12” | 11.93 | Pisces |
2024 May 11 | 23h 29m 07s | -02° 47’ 31” | 11.92 | Pisces |
2024 May 12 | 23h 30m 27s | -02° 38’ 53” | 11.91 | Pisces |
2024 May 13 | 23h 31m 46s | -02° 30’ 15” | 11.91 | Pisces |
2024 May 14 | 23h 33m 06s | -02° 21’ 39” | 11.90 | Pisces |