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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:47 
Transit: 12:58 
Sunset: 21:09
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 20 Massalia

Above the horizon.  Rise: 5:21 | Tran: 13:26 | Set: 21:31
Alt: 16.38°   Az: 286.07°   Direction: West-North-West

Asteroid 20 Massalia is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 461,163,306.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 19m 57s and the Declination is +22° 42’ 51” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 20 Massalia is 10.92.

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 20 Massalia in Taurus on June, 04 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 20 Massalia in Taurus on June, 04 2025. Field of view: 15x9 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.

20 Massalia
RA: 05h 18m 25s
Dec: +22° 41’ 21”
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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

05h 19m 57s
+22° 42’ 51”
06h 07m 59s
11h 27m 57s

J2000

05h 18m 25s
+22° 41’ 21”

Additional Information

Taurus
10.92

Rise and Set Times

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

Azimuth: 67.3°
Max altitude: 61.2°
Azimuth: 292.7°
  • 20 Massalia is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the West-North-West direction at an altitude of 16.38° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 20 Massalia is visible with the help of a binocular with a 70-80mm aperture or a small telescope.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 461,163,306.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.0826862966 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25m 38.275s to travel from Asteroid 20 Massalia and arrive to us.

461,163,306.0
3.0826862966
25m 38.275s

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

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
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 20 Massalia
View Asteroid 20 Massalia in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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

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
2025 May 28 05h 01m 36s +22° 21’ 51” 10.99 Taurus
2025 May 29 05h 03m 57s +22° 25’ 00” 10.99 Taurus
2025 May 30 05h 06m 18s +22° 28’ 00” 10.98 Taurus
2025 May 31 05h 08m 39s +22° 30’ 53” 10.97 Taurus
2025 Jun 01 05h 11m 01s +22° 33’ 39” 10.96 Taurus
2025 Jun 02 05h 13m 23s +22° 36’ 16” 10.95 Taurus
2025 Jun 03 05h 15m 45s +22° 38’ 46” 10.94 Taurus
2025 Jun 04 05h 18m 08s +22° 41’ 07” 10.93 Taurus
2025 Jun 05 05h 20m 30s +22° 43’ 20” 10.92 Taurus
2025 Jun 06 05h 22m 53s +22° 45’ 26” 10.90 Taurus
2025 Jun 07 05h 25m 15s +22° 47’ 24” 10.89 Taurus
2025 Jun 08 05h 27m 38s +22° 49’ 14” 10.88 Taurus
2025 Jun 09 05h 30m 01s +22° 50’ 56” 10.87 Taurus
2025 Jun 10 05h 32m 23s +22° 52’ 29” 10.86 Taurus

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