(90482) Orcus
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Opposition6 Mar 202519.048.013 AU47.082 AU10h36m-13°22'159.5°0.4°
Today13 Mar 202519.048.012 AU47.086 AU10h35m-13°19'158.5°0.4°
(90482) Orcus - 2025-03-13
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 Orcus are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2231445
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.2890662
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55553
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.38605
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.79654
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 187.21826
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.14423
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.70440
            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
2025-03-13 00:00 UT   10 35 45.3   -13 19 56    47.086   48.012  158.5    0.4    41   19.0 
2025-03-13 17:00 UT   10 35 42.4   -13 19 36    47.087   48.012  158.3    0.4    43   19.0 
2025-03-14 00:00 UT   10 35 41.2   -13 19 28    47.088   48.012  158.2    0.4    44   19.0 
2025-03-15 00:00 UT   10 35 37.1   -13 18 59    47.090   48.012  157.9    0.4    46   19.0 
2025-03-16 00:00 UT   10 35 33.1   -13 18 31    47.092   48.012  157.5    0.5    49   19.0 
2025-03-17 00:00 UT   10 35 29.1   -13 18 02    47.095   48.012  157.0    0.5    51   19.0 
2025-03-18 00:00 UT   10 35 25.1   -13 17 32    47.097   48.012  156.6    0.5    54   19.0 
2025-03-19 00:00 UT   10 35 21.2   -13 17 03    47.100   48.012  156.1    0.5    56   19.0 
2025-03-20 00:00 UT   10 35 17.3   -13 16 33    47.104   48.012  155.6    0.5    58   19.0 
2025-03-21 00:00 UT   10 35 13.4   -13 16 03    47.107   48.012  155.0    0.5    60   19.0 
2025-03-22 00:00 UT   10 35 09.5   -13 15 32    47.111   48.012  154.4    0.5    62   19.0 
2025-03-23 00:00 UT   10 35 05.7   -13 15 01    47.115   48.012  153.8    0.5    64   19.0 
2025-03-24 00:00 UT   10 35 01.9   -13 14 30    47.120   48.012  153.2    0.5    66   19.0 
2025-03-25 00:00 UT   10 34 58.2   -13 13 59    47.125   48.012  152.6    0.5    67   19.0 
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   10 34 54.5   -13 13 27    47.130   48.012  151.9    0.6    69   19.0 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   10 34 50.8   -13 12 56    47.135   48.012  151.2    0.6    70   19.0 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   10 34 47.2   -13 12 24    47.140   48.012  150.5    0.6    72   19.0 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   10 34 43.6   -13 11 52    47.146   48.012  149.8    0.6    73   19.0 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   10 34 40.0   -13 11 19    47.152   48.012  149.1    0.6    75   19.0 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   10 34 36.5   -13 10 47    47.158   48.011  148.3    0.6    76   19.0 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   10 34 33.1   -13 10 14    47.165   48.011  147.6    0.6    77   19.1 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   10 34 29.7   -13 09 41    47.172   48.011  146.8    0.7    78   19.1 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   10 34 26.3   -13 09 09    47.179   48.011  146.0    0.7    80   19.1 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   10 34 23.0   -13 08 35    47.186   48.011  145.3    0.7    81   19.1 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   10 34 19.8   -13 08 02    47.194   48.011  144.5    0.7    82   19.1 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   10 34 16.6   -13 07 29    47.202   48.011  143.7    0.7    83   19.1 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   10 34 13.5   -13 06 56    47.210   48.011  142.9    0.7    84   19.1 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   10 34 10.4   -13 06 22    47.218   48.011  142.0    0.7    85   19.1 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   10 34 07.3   -13 05 49    47.226   48.011  141.2    0.7    86   19.1 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   10 34 04.4   -13 05 15    47.235   48.011  140.4    0.8    86   19.1 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   10 34 01.4   -13 04 42    47.244   48.011  139.5    0.8    87   19.1 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   10 33 58.6   -13 04 08    47.253   48.011  138.7    0.8    88   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.