(849) Ara
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	8 Jul 2026	11.8	2.515 AU	1.569 AU	18h58m	+04°55'	152.5°	10.8°
Today	9 Jul 2026	11.8	2.515 AU	1.569 AU	18h58m	+04°57'	152.4°	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)                : 0.2009581
            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
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   18 58 30.3   +04 57 06     1.569    2.515  152.4   10.8   174   11.8 
2026-07-09 10:29 UT   18 58 09.5   +04 58 28     1.569    2.515  152.4   10.8   172   11.8 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   18 57 42.7   +05 00 10     1.570    2.515  152.4   10.8   171   11.8 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   18 56 55.2   +05 02 59     1.570    2.515  152.2   10.9   169   11.8 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   18 56 08.0   +05 05 30     1.571    2.515  152.0   10.9   166   11.8 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   18 55 21.1   +05 07 45     1.572    2.515  151.8   11.0   164   11.8 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   18 54 34.6   +05 09 44     1.574    2.514  151.6   11.1   162   11.8 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   18 53 48.5   +05 11 27     1.575    2.514  151.3   11.2   159   11.8 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   18 53 02.9   +05 12 53     1.577    2.514  151.0   11.3   157   11.8 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   18 52 17.9   +05 14 03     1.579    2.514  150.6   11.4   155   11.8 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   18 51 33.5   +05 14 57     1.581    2.514  150.2   11.6   153   11.8 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   18 50 49.7   +05 15 35     1.584    2.514  149.8   11.7   151   11.9 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   18 50 06.7   +05 15 58     1.586    2.514  149.4   11.9   149   11.9 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   18 49 24.5   +05 16 05     1.589    2.514  148.9   12.1   147   11.9 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   18 48 43.1   +05 15 57     1.592    2.514  148.4   12.2   145   11.9 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   18 48 02.5   +05 15 34     1.595    2.514  147.9   12.4   143   11.9 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   18 47 22.9   +05 14 57     1.599    2.514  147.3   12.6   141   11.9 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   18 46 44.3   +05 14 05     1.603    2.514  146.7   12.8   139   11.9 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   18 46 06.7   +05 12 59     1.607    2.515  146.2   13.0   138   11.9 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   18 45 30.1   +05 11 40     1.611    2.515  145.5   13.2   136   11.9 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   18 44 54.6   +05 10 06     1.615    2.515  144.9   13.4   134   12.0 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   18 44 20.3   +05 08 20     1.620    2.515  144.3   13.6   133   12.0 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   18 43 47.1   +05 06 20     1.624    2.515  143.6   13.8   131   12.0 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   18 43 15.1   +05 04 08     1.629    2.515  143.0   14.1   130   12.0 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   18 42 44.4   +05 01 44     1.634    2.515  142.3   14.3   129   12.0 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   18 42 14.9   +04 59 07     1.640    2.515  141.6   14.5   127   12.0 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   18 41 46.8   +04 56 19     1.645    2.515  140.9   14.7   126   12.0 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   18 41 19.9   +04 53 19     1.651    2.515  140.2   15.0   125   12.1 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   18 40 54.4   +04 50 08     1.657    2.516  139.5   15.2   124   12.1 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   18 40 30.3   +04 46 47     1.663    2.516  138.8   15.4   122   12.1 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   18 40 07.6   +04 43 15     1.669    2.516  138.0   15.6   121   12.1 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   18 39 46.3   +04 39 33     1.675    2.516  137.3   15.9   120   12.1 

    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.