(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Feb 2026	13.6	2.615 AU	2.950 AU	17h57m	-16°49'	60.9°	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)                : 317.49427
            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
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   17 57 14.8   -16 49 41     2.950    2.615   60.9   19.3   274   13.6 
2026-02-19 06:08 UT   17 57 39.1   -16 48 16     2.947    2.615   61.0   19.3   274   13.6 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   17 58 49.8   -16 44 05     2.937    2.614   61.5   19.4   274   13.5 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   18 00 24.2   -16 38 23     2.925    2.613   62.1   19.5   274   13.5 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   18 01 58.2   -16 32 35     2.912    2.611   62.7   19.7   273   13.5 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   18 03 31.6   -16 26 39     2.899    2.610   63.4   19.8   273   13.5 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   18 05 04.5   -16 20 37     2.886    2.609   64.0   19.9   273   13.5 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   18 06 36.8   -16 14 28     2.874    2.608   64.6   20.1   273   13.5 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   18 08 08.5   -16 08 12     2.861    2.607   65.3   20.2   273   13.5 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   18 09 39.7   -16 01 50     2.848    2.605   65.9   20.3   272   13.5 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   18 11 10.4   -15 55 21     2.835    2.604   66.5   20.4   272   13.5 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   18 12 40.4   -15 48 45     2.822    2.603   67.2   20.5   272   13.5 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   18 14 09.8   -15 42 03     2.809    2.602   67.8   20.7   272   13.5 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   18 15 38.7   -15 35 14     2.796    2.601   68.5   20.8   272   13.5 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   18 17 06.9   -15 28 19     2.782    2.599   69.1   20.9   271   13.5 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   18 18 34.5   -15 21 17     2.769    2.598   69.7   21.0   271   13.5 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   18 20 01.5   -15 14 08     2.756    2.597   70.4   21.1   271   13.4 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   18 21 27.8   -15 06 53     2.743    2.596   71.0   21.2   271   13.4 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   18 22 53.5   -14 59 31     2.730    2.595   71.7   21.3   270   13.4 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   18 24 18.5   -14 52 03     2.716    2.593   72.3   21.4   270   13.4 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   18 25 42.8   -14 44 28     2.703    2.592   73.0   21.5   270   13.4 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   18 27 06.5   -14 36 47     2.690    2.591   73.6   21.6   270   13.4 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   18 28 29.4   -14 28 60     2.676    2.590   74.3   21.7   270   13.4 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   18 29 51.6   -14 21 06     2.663    2.589   74.9   21.8   269   13.4 

    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.