Asteroid 9 Metis

Asteroid 9 Metis is a main-belt asteroid that orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered on April 25, 1848, by Irish astronomer Andrew Graham. The asteroid is named after the Greek goddess of wisdom and cunning, Metis. Metis has a relatively small diameter of about 90 kilometers and a rotation period of about 5.5 hours. Its orbit is somewhat eccentric, with a semi-major axis of approximately 2.39 astronomical units (AU) and an orbital period of about 3.69 years. Metis is also a member of the Flora family of asteroids, a group of objects that share similar orbital and physical properties and are believed to have formed from a common parent body.

Asteroid 9 Metis is currently in the constellation of Cetus.

The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 9 Metis is 02h 18m 09s and the Declination is +10° 35’ 32” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 9 Metis is 11.18 (JPL).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 9 Metis from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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.

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Asteroid 9 Metis?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 9 Metis from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 9 Metis rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 9 Metis?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Asteroid 9 Metis orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 9 Metis with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• Physical data. Detailed information about physical properties of Asteroid 9 Metis, such as mass and geometric properties.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 9 Metis for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 9 Metis in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 9 Metis with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 9 Metis is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Asteroid 9 Metis?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 9 Metis in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Asteroid 9 Metis Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 9 Metis from Earth is currently 444,401,465 kilometers, equivalent to 2.970640 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 42.3637 seconds to travel from Asteroid 9 Metis and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 9 Metis 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 9 Metis from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Asteroid 9 Metis to Earth

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 9 Metis to Earth happens on Thu Dec 7 1916 at a distance of 1.107641 Astronomical Units, or 165,700,805 kilometers:

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

Asteroid 9 Metis Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 9 Metis, 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 9 Metis Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 9 Metis with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 9 Metis 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 9 Metis 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 9 Metis computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 9 Metis in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 May 23	02h 03m 30s	+09° 14’ 07”	11.18	Pisces
2023 May 24	02h 05m 26s	+09° 25’ 01”	11.18	Pisces
2023 May 25	02h 07m 22s	+09° 35’ 53”	11.18	Cetus
2023 May 26	02h 09m 17s	+09° 46’ 41”	11.18	Cetus
2023 May 27	02h 11m 12s	+09° 57’ 25”	11.18	Cetus
2023 May 28	02h 13m 09s	+10° 08’ 07”	11.18	Cetus
2023 May 29	02h 15m 05s	+10° 18’ 43”	11.18	Cetus
2023 May 30	02h 17m 00s	+10° 29’ 17”	11.18	Cetus
2023 May 31	02h 18m 56s	+10° 39’ 48”	11.18	Aries
2023 Jun 01	02h 20m 53s	+10° 50’ 15”	11.18	Aries
2023 Jun 02	02h 22m 49s	+11° 00’ 38”	11.18	Aries
2023 Jun 03	02h 24m 45s	+11° 10’ 58”	11.18	Aries
2023 Jun 04	02h 26m 40s	+11° 21’ 14”	11.18	Aries
2023 Jun 05	02h 28m 37s	+11° 31’ 26”	11.18	Aries