(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	8 Jul 2026	11.8	2.515 AU	1.569 AU	18h58m	+04°55'	152.5°	10.8°
Today	18 Aug 2026	12.3	2.518 AU	1.748 AU	18h37m	+03°54'	129.7°	18.0°

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 Ara are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2009581
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1466937
            i (Inclination)                 : 19.53345
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 228.27214
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 62.55517
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 352.84553
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 289.41477
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 17.26112
            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
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   18 37 36.6   +03 54 42     1.748    2.518  129.7   18.0   111   12.3 
2026-08-18 09:53 UT   18 37 34.6   +03 52 36     1.752    2.519  129.4   18.1   111   12.3 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   18 37 32.2   +03 49 35     1.756    2.519  128.9   18.2   110   12.3 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   18 37 29.5   +03 44 21     1.765    2.519  128.2   18.4   109   12.3 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   18 37 28.3   +03 39 03     1.773    2.519  127.4   18.6   109   12.3 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   18 37 28.7   +03 33 40     1.782    2.520  126.6   18.8   108   12.4 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   18 37 30.7   +03 28 13     1.790    2.520  125.9   19.0   107   12.4 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   18 37 34.3   +03 22 41     1.799    2.520  125.1   19.2   106   12.4 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   18 37 39.5   +03 17 06     1.808    2.521  124.4   19.3   106   12.4 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   18 37 46.2   +03 11 27     1.817    2.521  123.6   19.5   105   12.4 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   18 37 54.6   +03 05 45     1.826    2.521  122.8   19.7   104   12.4 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   18 38 04.5   +02 59 60     1.836    2.522  122.1   19.8   104   12.5 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   18 38 15.9   +02 54 13     1.845    2.522  121.3   20.0   103   12.5 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   18 38 28.9   +02 48 23     1.854    2.522  120.6   20.2   102   12.5 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   18 38 43.4   +02 42 31     1.864    2.523  119.8   20.3   102   12.5 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   18 38 59.5   +02 36 38     1.874    2.523  119.0   20.5   101   12.5 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   18 39 17.1   +02 30 43     1.884    2.524  118.3   20.6   101   12.5 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   18 39 36.1   +02 24 47     1.894    2.524  117.5   20.8   100   12.6 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   18 39 56.7   +02 18 51     1.904    2.524  116.8   20.9    99   12.6 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   18 40 18.8   +02 12 53     1.914    2.525  116.1   21.0    99   12.6 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   18 40 42.4   +02 06 55     1.924    2.525  115.3   21.2    98   12.6 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   18 41 07.5   +02 00 57     1.935    2.526  114.6   21.3    98   12.6 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   18 41 34.0   +01 54 59     1.945    2.526  113.8   21.4    97   12.6 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   18 42 02.0   +01 49 02     1.955    2.527  113.1   21.5    97   12.7 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   18 42 31.5   +01 43 05     1.966    2.527  112.4   21.6    96   12.7 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   18 43 02.3   +01 37 09     1.977    2.528  111.6   21.7    96   12.7 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   18 43 34.7   +01 31 14     1.988    2.528  110.9   21.8    95   12.7 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   18 44 08.4   +01 25 21     1.998    2.529  110.2   21.9    95   12.7 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   18 44 43.5   +01 19 29     2.009    2.529  109.5   22.0    94   12.7 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   18 45 20.0   +01 13 39     2.020    2.530  108.7   22.1    94   12.7 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   18 45 57.8   +01 07 51     2.032    2.530  108.0   22.2    93   12.8 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   18 46 37.0   +01 02 05     2.043    2.531  107.3   22.3    93   12.8 

    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.