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 Sagittarius.

The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 20 Massalia is 19h 16m 40s and the Declination is -21° 42’ 37” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 20 Massalia is 12.14 (JPL).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 20 Massalia from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Asteroid 20 Massalia?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 20 Massalia from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 20 Massalia rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 20 Massalia?)
• 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.

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 522,857,667 kilometers, equivalent to 3.495088 Astronomical Units. Light takes 29 minutes and 4.0654 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.

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!

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
2023 Nov 29	19h 04m 27s	-22° 02’ 35”	12.15	Sagittarius
2023 Nov 30	19h 06m 06s	-22° 00’ 06”	12.15	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 01	19h 07m 45s	-21° 57’ 33”	12.15	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 02	19h 09m 24s	-21° 54’ 56”	12.15	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 03	19h 11m 03s	-21° 52’ 14”	12.14	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 04	19h 12m 42s	-21° 49’ 27”	12.14	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 05	19h 14m 22s	-21° 46’ 36”	12.14	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 06	19h 16m 02s	-21° 43’ 41”	12.14	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 07	19h 17m 44s	-21° 40’ 41”	12.14	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 08	19h 19m 23s	-21° 37’ 36”	12.13	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 09	19h 21m 05s	-21° 34’ 27”	12.13	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 10	19h 22m 45s	-21° 31’ 14”	12.13	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 11	19h 24m 26s	-21° 27’ 56”	12.13	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 12	19h 26m 08s	-21° 24’ 34”	12.12	Sagittarius