(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 May 2026	12.4	2.531 AU	1.822 AU	19h23m	-02°15'	124.1°	19.3°
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
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   19 23 14.3   -02 15 00     1.822    2.531  124.1   19.3   247   12.4 
2026-05-20 08:42 UT   19 23 15.1   -02 10 42     1.818    2.531  124.4   19.3   247   12.4 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   19 23 16.0   -02 03 08     1.812    2.531  124.9   19.1   247   12.4 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   19 23 16.2   -01 51 18     1.803    2.530  125.7   19.0   246   12.4 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   19 23 14.8   -01 39 31     1.793    2.530  126.5   18.8   246   12.4 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   19 23 11.9   -01 27 47     1.784    2.529  127.3   18.6   245   12.4 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   19 23 07.4   -01 16 06     1.775    2.529  128.1   18.4   244   12.3 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   19 23 01.4   -01 04 29     1.766    2.528  128.9   18.2   244   12.3 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   19 22 53.9   +00 52 57     1.758    2.528  129.7   18.0   243   12.3 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   19 22 44.9   +00 41 28     1.749    2.527  130.4   17.8   242   12.3 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   19 22 34.4   +00 30 04     1.741    2.527  131.2   17.6   241   12.3 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   19 22 22.4   +00 18 46     1.733    2.526  132.0   17.3   241   12.2 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   19 22 08.9   +00 07 33     1.725    2.526  132.8   17.1   240   12.2 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   19 21 53.9   +00 03 35     1.717    2.525  133.6   16.9   239   12.2 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   19 21 37.5   +00 14 37     1.709    2.525  134.4   16.7   238   12.2 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   19 21 19.5   +00 25 32     1.702    2.524  135.2   16.5   237   12.2 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   19 21 00.2   +00 36 20     1.695    2.524  135.9   16.2   236   12.2 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   19 20 39.4   +00 47 01     1.688    2.524  136.7   16.0   235   12.1 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   19 20 17.2   +00 57 35     1.681    2.523  137.4   15.8   234   12.1 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   19 19 53.6   +01 08 01     1.674    2.523  138.2   15.6   233   12.1 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   19 19 28.6   +01 18 18     1.667    2.522  139.0   15.3   232   12.1 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   19 19 02.2   +01 28 27     1.661    2.522  139.7   15.1   231   12.1 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   19 18 34.5   +01 38 27     1.655    2.522  140.4   14.9   230   12.1 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   19 18 05.5   +01 48 17     1.649    2.521  141.1   14.6   228   12.0 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   19 17 35.2   +01 57 57     1.643    2.521  141.9   14.4   227   12.0 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   19 17 03.7   +02 07 27     1.637    2.520  142.6   14.2   226   12.0 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   19 16 31.0   +02 16 47     1.632    2.520  143.2   14.0   225   12.0 
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   19 15 57.0   +02 25 55     1.627    2.520  143.9   13.7   223   12.0 
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   19 15 22.0   +02 34 52     1.622    2.520  144.6   13.5   222   12.0 
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   19 14 45.8   +02 43 37     1.617    2.519  145.2   13.3   220   12.0 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   19 14 08.6   +02 52 10     1.613    2.519  145.8   13.1   219   11.9 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   19 13 30.3   +03 00 31     1.608    2.519  146.5   12.9   217   11.9 

    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.