(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	29 Jan 2026	13.6	2.643 AU	3.201 AU	17h22m	-18°20'	47.9°	16.0°
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
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   17 22 20.7   -18 20 44     3.201    2.643   47.9   16.0   278   13.6 
2026-01-29 01:16 UT   17 22 26.2   -18 20 34     3.201    2.643   47.9   16.0   278   13.6 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   17 24 04.0   -18 17 32     3.190    2.642   48.5   16.2   278   13.6 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   17 25 47.0   -18 14 13     3.179    2.641   49.1   16.4   278   13.6 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   17 27 29.8   -18 10 47     3.167    2.639   49.7   16.5   278   13.6 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   17 29 12.1   -18 07 15     3.156    2.638   50.3   16.7   277   13.6 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   17 30 54.2   -18 03 36     3.144    2.636   50.9   16.9   277   13.6 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   17 32 35.9   -17 59 50     3.133    2.635   51.5   17.0   277   13.6 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   17 34 17.3   -17 55 57     3.121    2.634   52.2   17.2   277   13.6 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   17 35 58.3   -17 51 58     3.109    2.632   52.8   17.4   277   13.6 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   17 37 39.0   -17 47 51     3.097    2.631   53.4   17.5   276   13.6 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   17 39 19.2   -17 43 38     3.085    2.630   54.0   17.7   276   13.6 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   17 40 59.1   -17 39 18     3.073    2.628   54.6   17.8   276   13.6 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   17 42 38.6   -17 34 51     3.061    2.627   55.2   18.0   276   13.6 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   17 44 17.8   -17 30 17     3.049    2.626   55.9   18.1   276   13.6 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   17 45 56.4   -17 25 37     3.037    2.624   56.5   18.3   275   13.6 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   17 47 34.7   -17 20 49     3.025    2.623   57.1   18.4   275   13.6 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   17 49 12.5   -17 15 55     3.012    2.622   57.7   18.6   275   13.6 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   17 50 49.9   -17 10 54     3.000    2.620   58.4   18.7   275   13.6 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   17 52 26.8   -17 05 46     2.988    2.619   59.0   18.9   275   13.6 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   17 54 03.3   -17 00 31     2.975    2.618   59.6   19.0   274   13.6 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   17 55 39.3   -16 55 09     2.963    2.617   60.2   19.1   274   13.6 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   17 57 14.8   -16 49 41     2.950    2.615   60.9   19.3   274   13.6 

    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.