(90482) Orcus
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 May 2026	19.1	47.988 AU	47.550 AU	10h36m	-13°16'	115.2°	1.1°
Opposition	8 Mar 2027	19.0	47.968 AU	47.038 AU	10h43m	-14°16'	159.3°	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)                : 0.2217442
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.3350470
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55552
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.38597
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.71752
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 188.11893
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.06068
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.69615
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 246.70            
        

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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   10 36 35.7   -13 16 08    47.550   47.988  115.2    1.1   103   19.1 
2026-05-10 03:10 UT   10 36 35.6   -13 16 04    47.552   47.988  115.1    1.1   103   19.1 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   10 36 34.8   -13 15 38    47.564   47.988  114.3    1.1   104   19.1 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   10 36 33.9   -13 15 08    47.578   47.988  113.4    1.1   104   19.1 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   10 36 33.1   -13 14 38    47.593   47.988  112.5    1.1   105   19.1 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   10 36 32.4   -13 14 09    47.607   47.988  111.6    1.1   105   19.1 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   10 36 31.8   -13 13 40    47.622   47.988  110.7    1.1   105   19.1 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   10 36 31.2   -13 13 12    47.636   47.988  109.8    1.1   106   19.1 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   10 36 30.8   -13 12 44    47.651   47.988  108.9    1.1   106   19.1 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   10 36 30.4   -13 12 16    47.666   47.988  108.0    1.1   106   19.1 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   10 36 30.1   -13 11 49    47.681   47.988  107.1    1.2   107   19.1 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   10 36 29.8   -13 11 21    47.696   47.988  106.2    1.2   107   19.1 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   10 36 29.7   -13 10 55    47.711   47.988  105.3    1.2   108   19.1 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   10 36 29.6   -13 10 28    47.726   47.988  104.4    1.2   108   19.1 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   10 36 29.6   -13 10 03    47.741   47.988  103.5    1.2   108   19.1 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   10 36 29.7   -13 09 37    47.757   47.988  102.6    1.2   109   19.1 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   10 36 29.9   -13 09 12    47.772   47.988  101.7    1.2   109   19.1 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   10 36 30.1   -13 08 47    47.787   47.987  100.8    1.2   109   19.1 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   10 36 30.4   -13 08 23    47.803   47.987   99.9    1.2   110   19.1 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   10 36 30.8   -13 07 59    47.818   47.987   99.0    1.2   110   19.1 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   10 36 31.3   -13 07 36    47.834   47.987   98.1    1.2   110   19.1 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   10 36 31.9   -13 07 13    47.850   47.987   97.2    1.2   111   19.1 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   10 36 32.5   -13 06 50    47.865   47.987   96.3    1.2   111   19.1 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   10 36 33.2   -13 06 28    47.881   47.987   95.4    1.2   111   19.1 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   10 36 34.0   -13 06 06    47.897   47.987   94.5    1.2   112   19.1 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   10 36 34.9   -13 05 45    47.912   47.987   93.6    1.2   112   19.1 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   10 36 35.8   -13 05 25    47.928   47.987   92.7    1.2   112   19.1 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   10 36 36.8   -13 05 04    47.944   47.987   91.8    1.2   113   19.1 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   10 36 37.9   -13 04 45    47.960   47.987   90.9    1.2   113   19.1 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   10 36 39.1   -13 04 25    47.976   47.987   90.0    1.2   113   19.1 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   10 36 40.4   -13 04 07    47.991   47.987   89.1    1.2   114   19.1 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   10 36 41.7   -13 03 48    48.007   47.987   88.2    1.2   114   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.