Compute the position of Asteroid 20 Massalia for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.
Asteroid 20 Massalia is in the constellation of
Pisces,
at a distance of 214,838,196.0 kilometers from Earth.
The current Right Ascension is
00h 36m 23s
and the Declination is +04° 25’ 16”
(apparent coordinates).
The magnitude of Asteroid 20 Massalia is 9.74 (data provided by JPL Horizons).
Map showing Asteroid 20 Massalia in Pisces on September, 16 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
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).
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple
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Finder Charts
Sky map showing Asteroid 20 Massalia in Pisces on September, 16 2024.
Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart
High 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.
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 20 Massalia.
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins.
View in deep sky object tracker
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.
Distance from Earth
The distance of Asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth is currently 214,838,196.0 kilometers,
equivalent to 1.4361046384Astronomical Units.
Light takes
11m 56.623s to travel from Asteroid 20 Massalia and arrive to us.
214,838,196.0
1.4361046384
11m 56.623s
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.
Chart of the distance of Asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
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
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:
Mon Jan 6 2048
161,126,212
1.077062
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed
with a sampling interval of 1 day.
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.
Chart of the magnitude of Asteroid 20 Massalia as a function of time
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
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.
Compute the position of Asteroid 20 Massalia for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and display the results on an interactive star map.
Orbital elements. Detailed information
about Asteroid 20 Massalia orbital parameters.
Interactive orbit visualization. 3d
visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 20 Massalia with respect to the major Solar System objects.
Physical data. Detailed
information about physical properties of Asteroid 20 Massalia, such as mass and geometric properties.
15 days ephemerides. Table
showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 20 Massalia for the past and next 7 days.
Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 20 Massalia in the sky from your location.
Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 20 Massalia with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.
Sky map showing Asteroid 20 Massalia in Pisces on September, 16 2024.
Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 20 Massalia.
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins.
View in deep sky object tracker