(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Nov 2025	13.5	2.753 AU	3.732 AU	15h18m	-17°55'	6.6°	2.4°
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
2025-11-21 00:00 UT   15 18 29.4   -17 55 26     3.732    2.753    6.6    2.4   288   13.5 
2025-11-21 08:34 UT   15 19 07.5   -17 56 37     3.731    2.752    6.8    2.4   288   13.5 
2025-11-22 00:00 UT   15 20 16.3   -17 58 43     3.728    2.751    7.2    2.6   288   13.5 
2025-11-23 00:00 UT   15 22 03.3   -18 01 56     3.725    2.749    7.8    2.8   288   13.5 
2025-11-24 00:00 UT   15 23 50.4   -18 05 04     3.721    2.748    8.4    3.0   288   13.5 
2025-11-25 00:00 UT   15 25 37.7   -18 08 09     3.717    2.746    9.0    3.2   288   13.5 
2025-11-26 00:00 UT   15 27 25.1   -18 11 09     3.713    2.744    9.6    3.4   288   13.5 
2025-11-27 00:00 UT   15 29 12.6   -18 14 06     3.708    2.742   10.2    3.6   288   13.5 
2025-11-28 00:00 UT   15 31 00.3   -18 16 58     3.704    2.741   10.8    3.9   288   13.5 
2025-11-29 00:00 UT   15 32 48.0   -18 19 45     3.699    2.739   11.3    4.1   288   13.5 
2025-11-30 00:00 UT   15 34 35.9   -18 22 29     3.695    2.737   11.9    4.3   288   13.5 
2025-12-01 00:00 UT   15 36 23.9   -18 25 08     3.690    2.736   12.5    4.5   288   13.6 
2025-12-02 00:00 UT   15 38 11.9   -18 27 42     3.685    2.734   13.1    4.7   287   13.6 
2025-12-03 00:00 UT   15 40 00.1   -18 30 12     3.680    2.732   13.7    4.9   287   13.6 
2025-12-04 00:00 UT   15 41 48.3   -18 32 38     3.675    2.731   14.3    5.1   287   13.6 
2025-12-05 00:00 UT   15 43 36.7   -18 34 59     3.670    2.729   14.9    5.3   287   13.6 
2025-12-06 00:00 UT   15 45 25.1   -18 37 15     3.664    2.727   15.5    5.5   287   13.6 
2025-12-07 00:00 UT   15 47 13.6   -18 39 26     3.659    2.725   16.1    5.7   287   13.6 
2025-12-08 00:00 UT   15 49 02.2   -18 41 33     3.653    2.724   16.7    6.0   287   13.6 
2025-12-09 00:00 UT   15 50 50.8   -18 43 34     3.647    2.722   17.2    6.2   287   13.6 
2025-12-10 00:00 UT   15 52 39.5   -18 45 31     3.641    2.720   17.8    6.4   287   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.