(90482) Orcus
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Jan 2025	19.1	48.015 AU	47.404 AU	10h39m	-13°32'	128.0°	0.9°
Opposition	6 Mar 2025	19.0	48.013 AU	47.082 AU	10h36m	-13°22'	159.5°	0.4°

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 Orcus are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2262301
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.1904603
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55896
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.43116
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.77276
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 185.62301
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.16385
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.70520
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 245.34            
        

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
2025-01-18 00:00 UT   10 39 18.8   -13 32 23    47.404   48.015  128.0    0.9   310   19.1 
2025-01-18 06:57 UT   10 39 17.9   -13 32 24    47.400   48.015  128.2    0.9   310   19.1 
2025-01-19 00:00 UT   10 39 15.7   -13 32 26    47.391   48.015  128.9    0.9   311   19.1 
2025-01-20 00:00 UT   10 39 12.5   -13 32 28    47.379   48.015  129.8    0.9   312   19.1 
2025-01-21 00:00 UT   10 39 09.3   -13 32 29    47.367   48.015  130.7    0.9   312   19.1 
2025-01-22 00:00 UT   10 39 06.0   -13 32 30    47.355   48.015  131.6    0.9   313   19.1 
2025-01-23 00:00 UT   10 39 02.6   -13 32 30    47.344   48.015  132.5    0.9   313   19.1 
2025-01-24 00:00 UT   10 38 59.3   -13 32 29    47.332   48.015  133.4    0.9   314   19.1 
2025-01-25 00:00 UT   10 38 55.8   -13 32 28    47.321   48.015  134.3    0.8   315   19.1 
2025-01-26 00:00 UT   10 38 52.3   -13 32 26    47.310   48.015  135.2    0.8   316   19.1 
2025-01-27 00:00 UT   10 38 48.8   -13 32 23    47.300   48.015  136.1    0.8   316   19.1 
2025-01-28 00:00 UT   10 38 45.2   -13 32 20    47.289   48.015  137.0    0.8   317   19.1 
2025-01-29 00:00 UT   10 38 41.6   -13 32 16    47.279   48.014  137.9    0.8   318   19.1 
2025-01-30 00:00 UT   10 38 37.9   -13 32 11    47.269   48.014  138.8    0.8   319   19.1 
2025-01-31 00:00 UT   10 38 34.2   -13 32 06    47.259   48.014  139.6    0.8   319   19.1 
2025-02-01 00:00 UT   10 38 30.5   -13 31 59    47.250   48.014  140.5    0.7   320   19.1 
2025-02-02 00:00 UT   10 38 26.7   -13 31 53    47.241   48.014  141.4    0.7   321   19.1 
2025-02-03 00:00 UT   10 38 22.9   -13 31 45    47.231   48.014  142.2    0.7   322   19.1 
2025-02-04 00:00 UT   10 38 19.0   -13 31 37    47.223   48.014  143.1    0.7   323   19.1 
2025-02-05 00:00 UT   10 38 15.1   -13 31 29    47.214   48.014  143.9    0.7   324   19.1 
2025-02-06 00:00 UT   10 38 11.2   -13 31 19    47.206   48.014  144.7    0.7   325   19.1 
2025-02-07 00:00 UT   10 38 07.3   -13 31 09    47.198   48.014  145.5    0.7   326   19.1 
2025-02-08 00:00 UT   10 38 03.3   -13 30 59    47.190   48.014  146.3    0.7   328   19.1 
2025-02-09 00:00 UT   10 37 59.3   -13 30 47    47.182   48.014  147.1    0.6   329   19.1 
2025-02-10 00:00 UT   10 37 55.2   -13 30 36    47.175   48.014  147.9    0.6   330   19.1 
2025-02-11 00:00 UT   10 37 51.2   -13 30 23    47.168   48.014  148.7    0.6   331   19.1 
2025-02-12 00:00 UT   10 37 47.1   -13 30 10    47.161   48.014  149.4    0.6   333   19.1 
2025-02-13 00:00 UT   10 37 43.0   -13 29 56    47.155   48.014  150.1    0.6   334   19.1 
2025-02-14 00:00 UT   10 37 38.8   -13 29 42    47.149   48.014  150.9    0.6   336   19.1 
2025-02-15 00:00 UT   10 37 34.7   -13 29 27    47.143   48.014  151.6    0.6   337   19.1 
2025-02-16 00:00 UT   10 37 30.5   -13 29 12    47.137   48.014  152.3    0.5   339   19.0 
2025-02-17 00:00 UT   10 37 26.4   -13 28 56    47.132   48.014  152.9    0.5   340   19.0 

    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.