(980) Anacostia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Mar 2026	12.5	2.190 AU	3.162 AU	23h48m	+10°20'	10.8°	4.9°
Opposition	11 Dec 2026	11.3	2.565 AU	1.593 AU	05h08m	+34°42'	168.2°	4.5°

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)                : 0.2015784
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7413359
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.89626
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 285.76192
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 69.76017
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 336.69843
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 354.78617
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 14.89118
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   23 48 59.2   +10 20 43     3.162    2.190   10.8    4.9   324   12.5 
2026-03-25 05:49 UT   23 49 28.1   +10 24 08     3.162    2.191   10.9    4.9   323   12.5 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   23 50 58.6   +10 34 50     3.162    2.191   11.0    5.0   321   12.5 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   23 52 58.0   +10 48 57     3.162    2.191   11.1    5.0   319   12.5 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   23 54 57.5   +11 03 03     3.161    2.191   11.2    5.1   317   12.5 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   23 56 57.0   +11 17 10     3.161    2.191   11.4    5.2   315   12.5 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   23 58 56.6   +11 31 16     3.161    2.192   11.6    5.2   313   12.5 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   00 00 56.3   +11 45 21     3.160    2.192   11.8    5.3   311   12.5 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   00 02 56.0   +11 59 26     3.160    2.192   12.0    5.4   309   12.5 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   00 04 55.7   +12 13 30     3.159    2.193   12.2    5.5   307   12.5 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   00 06 55.5   +12 27 34     3.159    2.193   12.4    5.6   306   12.5 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   00 08 55.4   +12 41 36     3.158    2.193   12.7    5.7   304   12.6 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   00 10 55.3   +12 55 38     3.157    2.194   12.9    5.8   302   12.6 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   00 12 55.3   +13 09 39     3.156    2.194   13.2    6.0   301   12.6 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   00 14 55.4   +13 23 39     3.155    2.194   13.4    6.1   299   12.6 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   00 16 55.5   +13 37 39     3.154    2.195   13.7    6.2   298   12.6 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   00 18 55.7   +13 51 37     3.153    2.195   14.0    6.3   296   12.6 

    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.