(90482) Orcus
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Jun 2025	19.1	48.007 AU	48.312 AU	10h33m	-12°33'	71.9°	1.2°
Opposition	7 Mar 2026	19.0	47.993 AU	47.062 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)                : 0.2231446
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.2890646
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55553
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.38604
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.79654
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 187.21828
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.14422
            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
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   10 33 49.5   -12 33 29    48.312   48.007   71.9    1.2   120   19.1 
2025-06-26 07:47 UT   10 33 50.4   -12 33 26    48.317   48.007   71.7    1.2   120   19.1 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   10 33 52.3   -12 33 21    48.327   48.007   71.1    1.1   120   19.1 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   10 33 55.0   -12 33 14    48.342   48.007   70.2    1.1   121   19.1 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   10 33 57.9   -12 33 08    48.357   48.007   69.3    1.1   121   19.1 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   10 34 00.8   -12 33 02    48.371   48.007   68.4    1.1   121   19.1 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   10 34 03.8   -12 32 57    48.386   48.007   67.5    1.1   122   19.1 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   10 34 06.8   -12 32 53    48.400   48.007   66.7    1.1   122   19.1 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   10 34 09.9   -12 32 49    48.415   48.007   65.8    1.1   123   19.1 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   10 34 13.1   -12 32 46    48.429   48.007   64.9    1.1   123   19.1 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   10 34 16.3   -12 32 43    48.443   48.007   64.1    1.1   123   19.1 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   10 34 19.6   -12 32 41    48.457   48.006   63.2    1.1   124   19.1 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   10 34 22.9   -12 32 39    48.470   48.006   62.3    1.1   124   19.1 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   10 34 26.3   -12 32 38    48.484   48.006   61.4    1.1   125   19.1 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   10 34 29.8   -12 32 38    48.498   48.006   60.6    1.1   125   19.1 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   10 34 33.3   -12 32 38    48.511   48.006   59.7    1.0   125   19.1 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   10 34 36.9   -12 32 39    48.524   48.006   58.8    1.0   126   19.1 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   10 34 40.5   -12 32 41    48.537   48.006   58.0    1.0   126   19.1 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   10 34 44.2   -12 32 43    48.550   48.006   57.1    1.0   127   19.1 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   10 34 47.9   -12 32 45    48.563   48.006   56.3    1.0   127   19.1 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   10 34 51.7   -12 32 49    48.576   48.006   55.4    1.0   128   19.1 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   10 34 55.5   -12 32 53    48.588   48.006   54.6    1.0   128   19.1 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   10 34 59.4   -12 32 57    48.601   48.006   53.7    1.0   129   19.1 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   10 35 03.4   -12 33 02    48.613   48.006   52.9    1.0   129   19.1 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   10 35 07.4   -12 33 08    48.625   48.006   52.0    1.0   130   19.1 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   10 35 11.4   -12 33 14    48.636   48.006   51.2    0.9   130   19.1 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   10 35 15.5   -12 33 21    48.648   48.006   50.3    0.9   131   19.1 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   10 35 19.7   -12 33 29    48.660   48.006   49.5    0.9   131   19.1 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   10 35 23.8   -12 33 37    48.671   48.006   48.6    0.9   132   19.1 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   10 35 28.1   -12 33 46    48.682   48.005   47.8    0.9   132   19.1 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   10 35 32.3   -12 33 55    48.693   48.005   47.0    0.9   133   19.1 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   10 35 36.7   -12 34 05    48.704   48.005   46.1    0.9   134   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.