|
(1) Ceres |
| ephemeris |
date |
magn |
radius |
delta |
ra |
dec |
elong |
phase |
| Today | 4 Jul 2026 | 9.0 | 2.746 AU | 3.607 AU | 04h52m | +20°18' | 27.5° | 9.8° |
| Opposition | 7 Jan 2027 | 6.8 | 2.605 AU | 1.627 AU | 07h17m | +29°57' | 172.3° | 2.9° |
(1) Ceres - 2026-07-04
astro.vanbuitenen.nl
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) : 0.0795764
a (Semimajor axis) : 2.7656157
i (Inclination) : 10.58789
Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.24964
ω (Argument of perihelion) : 73.29974
M (Mean anomaly) : 231.53974
Epoch : 2025 Nov 21
L (Longitude of perihelion) : 153.27662
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
2026-07-04 00:00 UT 04 52 54.4 +20 18 43 3.607 2.746 27.5 9.8 259 9.0
2026-07-04 22:10 UT 04 54 27.8 +20 22 39 3.601 2.745 28.0 10.0 259 9.0
2026-07-05 00:00 UT 04 54 35.5 +20 22 58 3.600 2.745 28.0 10.0 259 9.0
2026-07-06 00:00 UT 04 56 16.5 +20 27 09 3.593 2.744 28.6 10.2 260 9.0
2026-07-07 00:00 UT 04 57 57.5 +20 31 17 3.586 2.743 29.1 10.4 260 9.0
2026-07-08 00:00 UT 04 59 38.5 +20 35 20 3.579 2.742 29.7 10.6 260 9.0
2026-07-09 00:00 UT 05 01 19.5 +20 39 19 3.572 2.741 30.2 10.8 261 9.0
2026-07-10 00:00 UT 05 03 00.4 +20 43 15 3.564 2.741 30.8 10.9 261 9.0
2026-07-11 00:00 UT 05 04 41.2 +20 47 06 3.557 2.740 31.3 11.1 261 9.0
2026-07-12 00:00 UT 05 06 22.0 +20 50 54 3.549 2.739 31.9 11.3 261 9.0
2026-07-13 00:00 UT 05 08 02.7 +20 54 38 3.541 2.738 32.5 11.5 262 9.0
2026-07-14 00:00 UT 05 09 43.4 +20 58 17 3.533 2.737 33.0 11.7 262 9.0
2026-07-15 00:00 UT 05 11 23.9 +21 01 53 3.525 2.737 33.6 11.9 262 9.0
2026-07-16 00:00 UT 05 13 04.4 +21 05 25 3.517 2.736 34.1 12.0 263 9.0
2026-07-17 00:00 UT 05 14 44.8 +21 08 53 3.509 2.735 34.7 12.2 263 9.0
2026-07-18 00:00 UT 05 16 25.1 +21 12 17 3.500 2.734 35.2 12.4 263 9.0
2026-07-19 00:00 UT 05 18 05.3 +21 15 37 3.492 2.733 35.8 12.6 263 9.0
2026-07-20 00:00 UT 05 19 45.4 +21 18 53 3.483 2.732 36.4 12.7 264 9.0
2026-07-21 00:00 UT 05 21 25.3 +21 22 06 3.475 2.732 36.9 12.9 264 9.0
2026-07-22 00:00 UT 05 23 05.1 +21 25 15 3.466 2.731 37.5 13.1 264 9.0
2026-07-23 00:00 UT 05 24 44.8 +21 28 20 3.457 2.730 38.1 13.3 264 9.0
2026-07-24 00:00 UT 05 26 24.4 +21 31 21 3.448 2.729 38.6 13.4 265 9.0
2026-07-25 00:00 UT 05 28 03.8 +21 34 19 3.439 2.728 39.2 13.6 265 9.0
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.
