(90482) Orcus
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Dec 2025	19.1	47.998 AU	47.958 AU	10h43m	-13°49'	91.7°	1.2°
Opposition	7 Mar 2026	19.0	47.992 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)                : 0.2217428
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.3351114
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55551
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.38587
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.71784
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 188.11855
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.06092
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.69618
            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
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   10 43 56.6   -13 49 21    47.958   47.998   91.7    1.2   294   19.1 
2025-12-12 20:10 UT   10 43 56.3   -13 49 43    47.944   47.997   92.5    1.2   295   19.1 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   10 43 56.2   -13 49 47    47.941   47.997   92.7    1.2   295   19.1 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   10 43 55.8   -13 50 13    47.925   47.997   93.6    1.2   295   19.1 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   10 43 55.3   -13 50 39    47.908   47.997   94.6    1.2   295   19.1 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   10 43 54.6   -13 51 04    47.892   47.997   95.5    1.2   296   19.1 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   10 43 54.0   -13 51 29    47.876   47.997   96.5    1.2   296   19.1 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   10 43 53.2   -13 51 52    47.860   47.997   97.5    1.2   296   19.1 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   10 43 52.3   -13 52 16    47.843   47.997   98.4    1.2   297   19.1 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   10 43 51.4   -13 52 39    47.827   47.997   99.4    1.2   297   19.1 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   10 43 50.4   -13 53 01    47.811   47.997  100.3    1.2   297   19.1 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   10 43 49.3   -13 53 22    47.795   47.997  101.3    1.2   298   19.1 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   10 43 48.1   -13 53 43    47.779   47.997  102.2    1.1   298   19.1 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   10 43 46.9   -13 54 04    47.763   47.997  103.2    1.1   299   19.1 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   10 43 45.6   -13 54 24    47.747   47.997  104.1    1.1   299   19.1 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   10 43 44.1   -13 54 43    47.731   47.997  105.1    1.1   299   19.1 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   10 43 42.7   -13 55 01    47.716   47.997  106.0    1.1   300   19.1 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   10 43 41.1   -13 55 19    47.700   47.997  107.0    1.1   300   19.1 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   10 43 39.5   -13 55 37    47.684   47.997  107.9    1.1   301   19.1 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   10 43 37.7   -13 55 53    47.669   47.996  108.9    1.1   301   19.1 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   10 43 36.0   -13 56 10    47.654   47.996  109.9    1.1   301   19.1 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   10 43 34.1   -13 56 25    47.638   47.996  110.8    1.1   302   19.1 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   10 43 32.2   -13 56 40    47.623   47.996  111.8    1.1   302   19.1 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   10 43 30.1   -13 56 54    47.608   47.996  112.7    1.1   303   19.1 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   10 43 28.1   -13 57 07    47.593   47.996  113.6    1.1   303   19.1 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   10 43 25.9   -13 57 20    47.579   47.996  114.6    1.1   303   19.1 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   10 43 23.7   -13 57 33    47.564   47.996  115.5    1.1   304   19.1 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   10 43 21.4   -13 57 44    47.549   47.996  116.5    1.1   304   19.1 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   10 43 19.0   -13 57 55    47.535   47.996  117.4    1.0   305   19.1 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   10 43 16.6   -13 58 05    47.521   47.996  118.4    1.0   305   19.1 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   10 43 14.1   -13 58 15    47.507   47.996  119.3    1.0   306   19.1 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   10 43 11.6   -13 58 24    47.493   47.996  120.3    1.0   306   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.