(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 Jul 2025	14.0	3.000 AU	3.126 AU	12h04m	-09°13'	73.5°	19.0°
Opposition	8 Jul 2026	11.8	2.514 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)                : 0.2008198
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1455096
            i (Inclination)                 : 19.53648
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 228.27396
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 62.64507
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 282.11354
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 289.50905
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 17.27826
            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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   12 04 51.7   -09 13 38     3.126    3.000   73.5   19.0   116   14.0 
2025-07-14 21:42 UT   12 05 49.1   -09 14 34     3.136    2.999   72.9   18.9   116   14.0 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   12 05 55.2   -09 14 40     3.138    2.998   72.8   18.9   116   14.0 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   12 06 59.3   -09 15 49     3.149    2.996   72.1   18.8   116   14.0 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   12 08 04.0   -09 17 04     3.159    2.994   71.4   18.8   116   14.0 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   12 09 09.3   -09 18 25     3.170    2.992   70.7   18.7   116   14.0 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   12 10 15.2   -09 19 53     3.181    2.990   70.0   18.6   116   14.0 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   12 11 21.7   -09 21 26     3.192    2.988   69.3   18.5   116   14.0 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   12 12 28.7   -09 23 06     3.203    2.986   68.6   18.5   117   14.0 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   12 13 36.3   -09 24 51     3.213    2.984   68.0   18.4   117   14.0 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   12 14 44.5   -09 26 43     3.224    2.983   67.3   18.3   117   14.0 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   12 15 53.2   -09 28 40     3.235    2.981   66.6   18.2   117   14.0 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   12 17 02.4   -09 30 43     3.245    2.979   65.9   18.1   117   14.0 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   12 18 12.2   -09 32 51     3.255    2.977   65.2   18.1   117   14.0 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   12 19 22.6   -09 35 05     3.266    2.975   64.6   18.0   117   14.0 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   12 20 33.4   -09 37 24     3.276    2.973   63.9   17.9   117   14.0 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   12 21 44.8   -09 39 49     3.286    2.971   63.2   17.8   117   14.0 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   12 22 56.6   -09 42 18     3.296    2.969   62.6   17.7   117   14.0 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   12 24 09.0   -09 44 53     3.306    2.967   61.9   17.6   117   14.0 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   12 25 21.9   -09 47 33     3.316    2.965   61.2   17.5   117   14.0 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   12 26 35.2   -09 50 17     3.326    2.963   60.6   17.4   117   14.0 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   12 27 49.0   -09 53 07     3.336    2.961   59.9   17.3   117   14.0 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   12 29 03.3   -09 56 01     3.346    2.959   59.3   17.1   117   14.0 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   12 30 18.1   -09 58 59     3.355    2.957   58.6   17.0   117   14.0 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   12 31 33.3   -10 02 02     3.365    2.955   58.0   16.9   117   14.0 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   12 32 49.0   -10 05 10     3.375    2.953   57.3   16.8   117   14.0 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   12 34 05.1   -10 08 22     3.384    2.951   56.7   16.7   117   14.0 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   12 35 21.7   -10 11 38     3.393    2.949   56.0   16.6   117   14.0 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   12 36 38.7   -10 14 58     3.402    2.947   55.4   16.4   117   14.0 
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   12 37 56.2   -10 18 22     3.412    2.945   54.7   16.3   117   14.0 

    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.