(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	17 Sep 2026	12.8	2.531 AU	2.043 AU	18h46m	+01°02'	107.3°	22.3°
Opposition	30 Oct 2027	12.6	3.192 AU	2.202 AU	02h12m	+19°21'	174.2°	1.8°

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)                : 0.2009581
            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
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   18 46 37.0   +01 02 05     2.043    2.531  107.3   22.3    93   12.8 
2026-09-17 11:56 UT   18 46 57.0   +00 59 14     2.048    2.531  107.0   22.3    93   12.8 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   18 47 17.5   +00 56 22     2.054    2.531  106.6   22.4    92   12.8 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   18 47 59.4   +00 50 42     2.065    2.532  105.9   22.4    92   12.8 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   18 48 42.5   +00 45 04     2.077    2.533  105.2   22.5    92   12.8 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   18 49 26.9   +00 39 29     2.088    2.533  104.5   22.6    91   12.8 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   18 50 12.6   +00 33 58     2.099    2.534  103.8   22.6    91   12.9 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   18 50 59.5   +00 28 30     2.111    2.534  103.1   22.7    90   12.9 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   18 51 47.6   +00 23 05     2.122    2.535  102.4   22.7    90   12.9 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   18 52 37.0   +00 17 44     2.134    2.536  101.7   22.8    89   12.9 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   18 53 27.5   +00 12 26     2.146    2.536  101.0   22.8    89   12.9 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   18 54 19.2   +00 07 13     2.157    2.537  100.3   22.9    89   12.9 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   18 55 12.0   +00 02 03     2.169    2.537   99.6   22.9    88   12.9 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   18 56 06.0   +00 03 02     2.181    2.538   99.0   22.9    88   12.9 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   18 57 01.1   +00 08 03     2.193    2.539   98.3   23.0    87   13.0 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   18 57 57.3   +00 12 60     2.205    2.539   97.6   23.0    87   13.0 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   18 58 54.6   +00 17 52     2.217    2.540   96.9   23.0    87   13.0 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   18 59 52.9   +00 22 40     2.229    2.541   96.3   23.1    86   13.0 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   19 00 52.4   +00 27 23     2.241    2.541   95.6   23.1    86   13.0 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   19 01 52.9   +00 32 01     2.253    2.542   94.9   23.1    85   13.0 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   19 02 54.4   +00 36 34     2.265    2.543   94.3   23.1    85   13.0 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   19 03 56.9   +00 41 02     2.277    2.544   93.6   23.1    85   13.0 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   19 05 00.5   +00 45 25     2.289    2.544   92.9   23.1    84   13.1 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   19 06 05.0   +00 49 42     2.301    2.545   92.3   23.1    84   13.1 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   19 07 10.5   +00 53 55     2.313    2.546   91.6   23.1    84   13.1 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   19 08 17.0   +00 58 01     2.326    2.547   91.0   23.1    83   13.1 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   19 09 24.4   -01 02 02     2.338    2.547   90.3   23.1    83   13.1 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   19 10 32.7   -01 05 58     2.350    2.548   89.7   23.1    82   13.1 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   19 11 42.0   -01 09 47     2.362    2.549   89.0   23.0    82   13.1 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   19 12 52.2   -01 13 31     2.375    2.550   88.4   23.0    82   13.1 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   19 14 03.2   -01 17 09     2.387    2.550   87.7   23.0    81   13.2 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   19 15 15.1   -01 20 41     2.399    2.551   87.1   23.0    81   13.2 

    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.