(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Jan 2026	13.7	2.676 AU	3.427 AU	16h43m	-19°03'	34.5°	12.0°
Opposition	8 Jul 2026	11.8	2.515 AU	1.569 AU	18h58m	+04°55'	152.5°	10.8°

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 Ara are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2008641
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1461443
            i (Inclination)                 : 19.53523
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 228.27494
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 62.59138
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 317.49426
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 289.45473
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 17.26852
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.58            
        

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
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   16 43 26.4   -19 03 10     3.427    2.676   34.5   12.0   282   13.7 
2026-01-07 23:45 UT   16 45 13.3   -19 02 23     3.418    2.674   35.1   12.2   282   13.7 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   16 45 14.4   -19 02 22     3.418    2.674   35.1   12.2   282   13.7 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   16 47 02.2   -19 01 28     3.408    2.673   35.7   12.4   282   13.7 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   16 48 50.0   -19 00 28     3.399    2.671   36.3   12.6   282   13.7 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   16 50 37.6   -18 59 21     3.389    2.670   36.9   12.8   281   13.7 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   16 52 25.0   -18 58 08     3.380    2.668   37.5   13.0   281   13.7 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   16 54 12.3   -18 56 49     3.370    2.667   38.1   13.2   281   13.7 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   16 55 59.4   -18 55 23     3.360    2.665   38.7   13.4   281   13.7 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   16 57 46.4   -18 53 51     3.350    2.664   39.4   13.5   281   13.7 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   16 59 33.2   -18 52 12     3.340    2.662   40.0   13.7   281   13.7 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   17 01 19.7   -18 50 26     3.330    2.661   40.6   13.9   280   13.7 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   17 03 06.1   -18 48 34     3.320    2.659   41.2   14.1   280   13.7 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   17 04 52.3   -18 46 36     3.309    2.658   41.8   14.3   280   13.7 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   17 06 38.3   -18 44 31     3.299    2.656   42.4   14.5   280   13.7 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   17 08 24.0   -18 42 19     3.289    2.655   43.0   14.6   280   13.7 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   17 10 09.5   -18 40 00     3.278    2.653   43.6   14.8   279   13.7 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   17 11 54.8   -18 37 35     3.267    2.652   44.2   15.0   279   13.7 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   17 13 39.8   -18 35 03     3.256    2.650   44.8   15.2   279   13.7 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   17 15 24.5   -18 32 25     3.246    2.649   45.4   15.3   279   13.7 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   17 17 09.0   -18 29 40     3.235    2.648   46.0   15.5   279   13.7 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   17 18 53.2   -18 26 48     3.224    2.646   46.6   15.7   278   13.7 

    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.