(1) Ceres
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	28 Feb 2026	9.1	2.846 AU	3.455 AU	01h37m	+03°51'	45.3°	14.3°
Opposition	7 Jan 2027	6.8	2.605 AU	1.627 AU	07h17m	+29°57'	172.3°	2.9°

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)                : 0.0795763
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7656157
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.58789
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.24963
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.29974
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 231.53975
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 153.27661
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 10.13648
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   01 37 33.0   +03 51 55     3.455    2.846   45.3   14.3    74    9.1 
2026-02-28 21:46 UT   01 38 42.7   +04 01 02     3.463    2.846   44.7   14.2    75    9.1 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   01 38 49.9   +04 01 58     3.464    2.845   44.6   14.2    75    9.1 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   01 40 07.2   +04 12 00     3.473    2.845   44.0   14.0    75    9.1 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   01 41 24.9   +04 22 02     3.482    2.844   43.4   13.8    75    9.1 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   01 42 43.0   +04 32 04     3.491    2.843   42.7   13.7    75    9.1 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   01 44 01.5   +04 42 05     3.500    2.842   42.1   13.5    75    9.1 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   01 45 20.4   +04 52 05     3.508    2.842   41.5   13.4    75    9.1 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   01 46 39.6   +05 02 04     3.517    2.841   40.8   13.2    76    9.1 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   01 47 59.2   +05 12 03     3.525    2.840   40.2   13.0    76    9.1 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   01 49 19.2   +05 22 01     3.533    2.839   39.6   12.9    76    9.1 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   01 50 39.6   +05 31 58     3.542    2.839   38.9   12.7    76    9.1 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   01 52 00.3   +05 41 55     3.550    2.838   38.3   12.5    76    9.1 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   01 53 21.4   +05 51 50     3.557    2.837   37.7   12.4    76    9.1 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   01 54 42.8   +06 01 45     3.565    2.836   37.1   12.2    77    9.1 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   01 56 04.6   +06 11 38     3.573    2.836   36.5   12.0    77    9.1 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   01 57 26.8   +06 21 31     3.580    2.835   35.8   11.9    77    9.1 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   01 58 49.2   +06 31 22     3.588    2.834   35.2   11.7    77    9.1 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   02 00 12.1   +06 41 13     3.595    2.833   34.6   11.5    77    9.1 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   02 01 35.2   +06 51 02     3.602    2.833   34.0   11.3    78    9.1 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   02 02 58.7   +07 00 50     3.609    2.832   33.4   11.2    78    9.1 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   02 04 22.6   +07 10 36     3.616    2.831   32.8   11.0    78    9.1 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   02 05 46.7   +07 20 22     3.623    2.830   32.2   10.8    78    9.1 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   02 07 11.2   +07 30 06     3.630    2.830   31.6   10.6    78    9.1 

    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.