(90377) Sedna
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today15 Sep 202420.883.478 AU83.109 AU04h03m+08°35'111.3°0.6°
Opposition21 Nov 202420.783.430 AU82.464 AU04h01m+08°24'168.0°0.1°
(90377) Sedna - 2024-09-15
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
-1 year
-1 month
-1 day
Now
+1 day
+1 month
+1 year

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 Sedna are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.8607712
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 548.2997125
            i (Inclination)                 : 11.92869
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 144.34714
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.84306
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 358.56644
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 95.80997
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -8.99596
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 12838.88            
        

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
2024-09-15 00:00 UT   04 03 36.5   +08 35 15    83.109   83.478  111.3    0.6   263   20.8 
2024-09-15 16:22 UT   04 03 36.1   +08 35 09    83.098   83.478  111.9    0.6   263   20.8 
2024-09-16 00:00 UT   04 03 35.9   +08 35 05    83.093   83.478  112.2    0.6   264   20.8 
2024-09-17 00:00 UT   04 03 35.3   +08 34 55    83.077   83.477  113.2    0.6   264   20.8 
2024-09-18 00:00 UT   04 03 34.6   +08 34 45    83.061   83.476  114.1    0.6   264   20.8 
2024-09-19 00:00 UT   04 03 33.9   +08 34 35    83.045   83.475  115.1    0.6   264   20.8 
2024-09-20 00:00 UT   04 03 33.1   +08 34 25    83.030   83.475  116.0    0.6   265   20.8 
2024-09-21 00:00 UT   04 03 32.3   +08 34 15    83.014   83.474  117.0    0.6   265   20.8 
2024-09-22 00:00 UT   04 03 31.5   +08 34 05    82.999   83.473  117.9    0.6   265   20.8 
2024-09-23 00:00 UT   04 03 30.5   +08 33 54    82.984   83.473  118.9    0.6   265   20.8 
2024-09-24 00:00 UT   04 03 29.6   +08 33 44    82.969   83.472  119.8    0.6   266   20.8 
2024-09-25 00:00 UT   04 03 28.6   +08 33 33    82.954   83.471  120.8    0.6   266   20.8 
2024-09-26 00:00 UT   04 03 27.6   +08 33 23    82.939   83.470  121.7    0.6   266   20.8 
2024-09-27 00:00 UT   04 03 26.5   +08 33 12    82.924   83.470  122.7    0.6   266   20.8 
2024-09-28 00:00 UT   04 03 25.4   +08 33 02    82.910   83.469  123.7    0.6   267   20.8 
2024-09-29 00:00 UT   04 03 24.2   +08 32 51    82.895   83.468  124.6    0.6   267   20.8 
2024-09-30 00:00 UT   04 03 23.0   +08 32 40    82.881   83.468  125.6    0.6   267   20.8 
2024-10-01 00:00 UT   04 03 21.8   +08 32 30    82.867   83.467  126.5    0.6   268   20.8 
2024-10-02 00:00 UT   04 03 20.5   +08 32 19    82.854   83.466  127.5    0.5   268   20.8 
2024-10-03 00:00 UT   04 03 19.2   +08 32 08    82.840   83.465  128.4    0.5   268   20.8 
2024-10-04 00:00 UT   04 03 17.8   +08 31 57    82.827   83.465  129.4    0.5   269   20.8 
2024-10-05 00:00 UT   04 03 16.4   +08 31 47    82.813   83.464  130.3    0.5   269   20.8 
2024-10-06 00:00 UT   04 03 15.0   +08 31 36    82.800   83.463  131.3    0.5   269   20.8 
2024-10-07 00:00 UT   04 03 13.5   +08 31 25    82.787   83.463  132.3    0.5   270   20.8 
2024-10-08 00:00 UT   04 03 12.0   +08 31 14    82.775   83.462  133.2    0.5   270   20.8 
2024-10-09 00:00 UT   04 03 10.5   +08 31 03    82.762   83.461  134.2    0.5   270   20.8 
2024-10-10 00:00 UT   04 03 08.9   +08 30 52    82.750   83.460  135.1    0.5   271   20.8 
2024-10-11 00:00 UT   04 03 07.2   +08 30 42    82.738   83.460  136.1    0.5   271   20.8 
2024-10-12 00:00 UT   04 03 05.6   +08 30 31    82.726   83.459  137.0    0.5   272   20.8 
2024-10-13 00:00 UT   04 03 03.9   +08 30 20    82.715   83.458  138.0    0.5   272   20.8 
2024-10-14 00:00 UT   04 03 02.2   +08 30 09    82.704   83.457  138.9    0.5   273   20.8 
2024-10-15 00:00 UT   04 03 00.4   +08 29 58    82.692   83.457  139.9    0.4   273   20.8 


    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.