(1) Ceres
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today19 Jun 20259.12.976 AU3.004 AU00h50m-06°01'78.7°19.6°
Opposition2 Oct 20257.62.939 AU1.961 AU00h57m-10°13'164.9°5.1°
(1) Ceres - 2025-06-19
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 Ceres are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0794013
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7660512
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.58780
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.25221
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.27343
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 188.70269
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 153.25251
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 10.13498
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.60            
        

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
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   00 50 04.8   -06 01 30     3.004    2.976   78.7   19.6   245    9.1 
2025-06-19 05:45 UT   00 50 18.6   -06 00 45     3.000    2.976   78.9   19.6   245    9.1 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   00 51 02.0   -05 58 27     2.990    2.976   79.4   19.6   245    9.1 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   00 51 58.6   -05 55 30     2.977    2.976   80.1   19.7   245    9.1 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   00 52 54.5   -05 52 40     2.963    2.975   80.8   19.7   245    9.1 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   00 53 49.8   -05 49 56     2.950    2.975   81.5   19.7   245    9.0 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   00 54 44.4   -05 47 18     2.937    2.975   82.2   19.8   245    9.0 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   00 55 38.3   -05 44 46     2.923    2.975   82.9   19.8   246    9.0 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   00 56 31.5   -05 42 21     2.910    2.974   83.7   19.9   246    9.0 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   00 57 24.0   -05 40 02     2.896    2.974   84.4   19.9   246    9.0 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   00 58 15.8   -05 37 49     2.883    2.974   85.1   19.9   246    9.0 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   00 59 06.8   -05 35 43     2.869    2.974   85.8   19.9   246    9.0 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   00 59 57.1   -05 33 44     2.856    2.973   86.6   20.0   246    9.0 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   01 00 46.7   -05 31 51     2.842    2.973   87.3   20.0   246    9.0 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   01 01 35.5   -05 30 05     2.828    2.973   88.1   20.0   247    9.0 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   01 02 23.5   -05 28 25     2.815    2.973   88.8   20.0   247    9.0 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   01 03 10.7   -05 26 53     2.801    2.972   89.5   20.0   247    8.9 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   01 03 57.2   -05 25 27     2.788    2.972   90.3   20.0   247    8.9 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   01 04 42.8   -05 24 08     2.774    2.972   91.0   20.0   247    8.9 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   01 05 27.6   -05 22 56     2.761    2.972   91.8   20.0   247    8.9 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   01 06 11.6   -05 21 51     2.747    2.971   92.6   20.0   248    8.9 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   01 06 54.8   -05 20 52     2.734    2.971   93.3   20.0   248    8.9 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   01 07 37.0   -05 20 01     2.720    2.971   94.1   20.0   248    8.9 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   01 08 18.4   -05 19 17     2.707    2.971   94.9   19.9   248    8.9 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   01 08 59.0   -05 18 40     2.693    2.970   95.6   19.9   248    8.9 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   01 09 38.6   -05 18 11     2.680    2.970   96.4   19.9   249    8.8 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   01 10 17.3   -05 17 48     2.666    2.970   97.2   19.9   249    8.8 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   01 10 55.1   -05 17 33     2.653    2.969   98.0   19.8   249    8.8 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   01 11 32.0   -05 17 25     2.639    2.969   98.8   19.8   249    8.8 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   01 12 07.9   -05 17 25     2.626    2.969   99.6   19.7   249    8.8 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   01 12 42.8   -05 17 32     2.613    2.969  100.3   19.7   250    8.8 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   01 13 16.8   -05 17 46     2.599    2.968  101.2   19.6   250    8.8 


    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.