(980) Anacostia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	1 Jul 2025	10.9	2.505 AU	1.489 AU	18h46m	-25°45'	177.1°	1.2°
Today	2 Aug 2025	11.6	2.441 AU	1.544 AU	18h17m	-22°22'	144.3°	14.0°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Anacostia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2016946
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7416667
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.89589
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 285.76210
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 69.75288
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 293.28836
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 354.77888
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 14.89012
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.54            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   18 17 06.7   -22 22 54     1.544    2.441  144.3   14.0    90   11.6 
2025-08-02 11:20 UT   18 16 50.5   -22 19 51     1.547    2.440  143.8   14.2    90   11.6 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   18 16 32.9   -22 16 27     1.550    2.439  143.2   14.4    90   11.6 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   18 16 01.0   -22 10 02     1.555    2.437  142.2   14.8    90   11.6 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   18 15 30.9   -22 03 40     1.561    2.435  141.1   15.2    90   11.6 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   18 15 02.6   -21 57 20     1.567    2.433  140.0   15.5    90   11.6 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   18 14 36.3   -21 51 03     1.574    2.431  139.0   15.9    90   11.7 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   18 14 11.8   -21 44 49     1.580    2.429  137.9   16.2    90   11.7 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   18 13 49.2   -21 38 38     1.587    2.427  136.9   16.6    90   11.7 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   18 13 28.5   -21 32 30     1.594    2.426  135.8   16.9    91   11.7 
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   18 13 09.8   -21 26 26     1.600    2.424  134.8   17.3    91   11.7 
2025-08-12 00:00 UT   18 12 52.9   -21 20 24     1.608    2.422  133.8   17.6    91   11.8 
2025-08-13 00:00 UT   18 12 38.0   -21 14 27     1.615    2.420  132.7   17.9    91   11.8 
2025-08-14 00:00 UT   18 12 25.0   -21 08 32     1.622    2.418  131.7   18.2    91   11.8 
2025-08-15 00:00 UT   18 12 13.9   -21 02 42     1.630    2.416  130.7   18.5    91   11.8 
2025-08-16 00:00 UT   18 12 04.8   -20 56 54     1.638    2.414  129.7   18.8    91   11.8 
2025-08-17 00:00 UT   18 11 57.5   -20 51 11     1.646    2.412  128.7   19.1    91   11.9 
2025-08-18 00:00 UT   18 11 52.2   -20 45 31     1.654    2.410  127.8   19.4    91   11.9 
2025-08-19 00:00 UT   18 11 48.9   -20 39 55     1.662    2.408  126.8   19.7    91   11.9 
2025-08-20 00:00 UT   18 11 47.4   -20 34 23     1.670    2.406  125.8   19.9    91   11.9 
2025-08-21 00:00 UT   18 11 47.8   -20 28 55     1.678    2.404  124.9   20.2    91   11.9 
2025-08-22 00:00 UT   18 11 50.2   -20 23 30     1.687    2.403  123.9   20.5    91   11.9 
2025-08-23 00:00 UT   18 11 54.5   -20 18 09     1.696    2.401  123.0   20.7    91   12.0 
2025-08-24 00:00 UT   18 12 00.7   -20 12 51     1.704    2.399  122.0   20.9    91   12.0 
2025-08-25 00:00 UT   18 12 08.7   -20 07 37     1.713    2.397  121.1   21.2    91   12.0 
2025-08-26 00:00 UT   18 12 18.6   -20 02 27     1.722    2.395  120.2   21.4    91   12.0 
2025-08-27 00:00 UT   18 12 30.4   -19 57 21     1.731    2.393  119.2   21.6    91   12.0 
2025-08-28 00:00 UT   18 12 44.0   -19 52 17     1.740    2.391  118.3   21.8    91   12.0 
2025-08-29 00:00 UT   18 12 59.5   -19 47 18     1.750    2.389  117.4   22.0    91   12.1 
2025-08-30 00:00 UT   18 13 16.7   -19 42 21     1.759    2.388  116.5   22.2    91   12.1 
2025-08-31 00:00 UT   18 13 35.7   -19 37 28     1.769    2.386  115.6   22.4    90   12.1 
2025-09-01 00:00 UT   18 13 56.5   -19 32 38     1.778    2.384  114.8   22.6    90   12.1 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.