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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:45 
Transit: 13:02 
Sunset: 21:19
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 20 Massalia

Above the horizon.  Rise: 4:46 | Tran: 12:53 | Set: 21:00
Alt: 21.93°   Az: 80.19°   Direction: South

Asteroid 20 Massalia is in the constellation of Gemini, at a distance of 461,356,173.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 08m 55s and the Declination is +22° 59’ 28” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of asteroid 20 Massalia is 10.76.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 20 Massalia in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of asteroid 20 Massalia in the constellation of Gemini on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of asteroid 20 Massalia in the constellation of Gemini on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of asteroid 20 Massalia against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

20 Massalia
RA: 06h 07m 22s
Dec: +22° 59’ 46”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of asteroid 20 Massalia. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 08m 55s
+22° 59’ 28”
18h 27m 10s
00h 36m 05s

J2000

06h 07m 22s
+22° 59’ 46”

Additional Information

Gemini
10.76

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 20 Massalia from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 67.0°
Max altitude: 61.5°
Azimuth: 293.0°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth is currently 461,356,173.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.0839755328 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25m 38.919s to travel from asteroid 20 Massalia and arrive to us.

461,356,173.0
3.0839755328
25m 38.919s

The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 20 Massalia from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 1900 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of asteroid 20 Massalia to Earth will happen on Monday 6 January 2048 at a distance of 1.077062 Astronomical Units, or 161,126,212 kilometers:

Monday 6 January 2048
161,126,212
1.077062

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of asteroid 20 Massalia, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of asteroid 20 Massalia as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of asteroid 20 Massalia at epoch February, 24 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 November 4, 2021
2,459,522.6132 JD
Next perihelion transit July 31, 2025
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

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 20 Massalia relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

Physical Properties

The table below lists the known key physical properties of asteroid 20 Massalia. The source for this data is the 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

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jun 18 2025 05h 51m 30s +23° 00’ 07” 10.73 Taurus
Jun 19 2025 05h 53m 53s +23° 00’ 28” 10.71 Taurus
Jun 20 2025 05h 56m 17s +23° 00’ 40” 10.69 Taurus
Jun 21 2025 05h 58m 41s +23° 00’ 44” 10.69 Taurus
Jun 22 2025 06h 01m 04s +23° 00’ 40” 10.71 Taurus
Jun 23 2025 06h 03m 28s +23° 00’ 27” 10.73 Gemini
Jun 24 2025 06h 05m 52s +23° 00’ 06” 10.75 Gemini
Jun 25 2025 06h 08m 16s +22° 59’ 37” 10.76 Gemini
Jun 26 2025 06h 10m 40s +22° 58’ 59” 10.78 Gemini
Jun 27 2025 06h 13m 04s +22° 58’ 14” 10.79 Gemini
Jun 28 2025 06h 15m 27s +22° 57’ 21” 10.81 Gemini
Jun 29 2025 06h 17m 51s +22° 56’ 18” 10.82 Gemini
Jun 30 2025 06h 20m 15s +22° 55’ 08” 10.83 Gemini
Jul 01 2025 06h 22m 39s +22° 53’ 50” 10.84 Gemini

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