(90482) Orcus
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	31 Aug 2025	19.1	48.004 AU	48.941 AU	10h38m	-12°46'	21.5°	0.4°
Opposition	7 Mar 2026	19.0	47.993 AU	47.063 AU	10h39m	-13°49'	159.4°	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)                : 0.2231412
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.2892348
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55554
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.38608
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.79695
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 187.21755
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.14469
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.70446
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 246.27            
        

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
2025-08-31 00:00 UT   10 38 31.2   -12 46 14    48.941   48.004   21.5    0.4   179   19.1 
2025-08-31 20:46 UT   10 38 35.6   -12 46 40    48.943   48.003   21.2    0.4   181   19.1 
2025-09-01 00:00 UT   10 38 36.3   -12 46 44    48.943   48.003   21.2    0.4   181   19.1 
2025-09-02 00:00 UT   10 38 41.5   -12 47 14    48.945   48.003   20.9    0.4   184   19.1 
2025-09-03 00:00 UT   10 38 46.6   -12 47 44    48.946   48.003   20.6    0.4   186   19.1 
2025-09-04 00:00 UT   10 38 51.7   -12 48 15    48.948   48.003   20.3    0.4   189   19.1 
2025-09-05 00:00 UT   10 38 56.8   -12 48 47    48.949   48.003   20.1    0.4   192   19.1 
2025-09-06 00:00 UT   10 39 01.9   -12 49 18    48.949   48.003   20.0    0.4   194   19.1 
2025-09-07 00:00 UT   10 39 07.0   -12 49 50    48.950   48.003   19.9    0.4   197   19.1 
2025-09-08 00:00 UT   10 39 12.0   -12 50 23    48.950   48.003   19.8    0.4   200   19.1 
2025-09-09 00:00 UT   10 39 17.1   -12 50 56    48.950   48.003   19.7    0.4   203   19.1 
2025-09-10 00:00 UT   10 39 22.2   -12 51 29    48.950   48.003   19.8    0.4   205   19.1 
2025-09-11 00:00 UT   10 39 27.2   -12 52 02    48.949   48.003   19.8    0.4   208   19.1 
2025-09-12 00:00 UT   10 39 32.3   -12 52 36    48.948   48.003   19.9    0.4   211   19.1 
2025-09-13 00:00 UT   10 39 37.3   -12 53 11    48.947   48.003   20.0    0.4   214   19.1 
2025-09-14 00:00 UT   10 39 42.3   -12 53 45    48.945   48.003   20.2    0.4   216   19.1 
2025-09-15 00:00 UT   10 39 47.3   -12 54 20    48.944   48.003   20.5    0.4   219   19.1 
2025-09-16 00:00 UT   10 39 52.3   -12 54 56    48.942   48.003   20.7    0.4   222   19.1 
2025-09-17 00:00 UT   10 39 57.2   -12 55 31    48.940   48.003   21.0    0.4   224   19.1 
2025-09-18 00:00 UT   10 40 02.2   -12 56 07    48.937   48.003   21.4    0.4   227   19.1 
2025-09-19 00:00 UT   10 40 07.1   -12 56 43    48.934   48.002   21.7    0.4   229   19.1 
2025-09-20 00:00 UT   10 40 12.0   -12 57 20    48.931   48.002   22.1    0.5   231   19.1 
2025-09-21 00:00 UT   10 40 16.8   -12 57 57    48.928   48.002   22.6    0.5   234   19.1 
2025-09-22 00:00 UT   10 40 21.7   -12 58 34    48.924   48.002   23.0    0.5   236   19.1 
2025-09-23 00:00 UT   10 40 26.5   -12 59 12    48.921   48.002   23.5    0.5   238   19.1 
2025-09-24 00:00 UT   10 40 31.3   -12 59 49    48.917   48.002   24.1    0.5   240   19.1 
2025-09-25 00:00 UT   10 40 36.1   -13 00 27    48.912   48.002   24.6    0.5   242   19.1 
2025-09-26 00:00 UT   10 40 40.8   -13 01 05    48.908   48.002   25.2    0.5   244   19.1 
2025-09-27 00:00 UT   10 40 45.5   -13 01 44    48.903   48.002   25.8    0.5   245   19.1 
2025-09-28 00:00 UT   10 40 50.1   -13 02 22    48.898   48.002   26.4    0.5   247   19.1 
2025-09-29 00:00 UT   10 40 54.8   -13 03 01    48.892   48.002   27.0    0.5   249   19.1 
2025-09-30 00:00 UT   10 40 59.4   -13 03 40    48.887   48.002   27.7    0.6   250   19.1 

    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.