(90482) Orcus
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	5 Mar 2024	19.0	48.029 AU	47.098 AU	10h32m	-12°55'	159.5°	0.4°
Today	25 Apr 2024	19.1	48.027 AU	47.425 AU	10h29m	-12°29'	126.3°	1.0°

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)                : 0.2262299
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.1904679
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55896
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.43116
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.77276
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 185.62301
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.16385
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.70520
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 245.34            
        

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
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   10 29 57.0   -12 29 37    47.425   48.027  126.3    1.0    97   19.1 
2024-04-25 19:45 UT   10 29 55.4   -12 29 11    47.435   48.027  125.6    1.0    98   19.1 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   10 29 55.1   -12 29 05    47.437   48.027  125.4    1.0    98   19.1 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   10 29 53.3   -12 28 33    47.449   48.027  124.5    1.0    98   19.1 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   10 29 51.6   -12 28 01    47.462   48.027  123.6    1.0    99   19.1 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   10 29 49.9   -12 27 29    47.475   48.027  122.7    1.0    99   19.1 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   10 29 48.3   -12 26 57    47.488   48.027  121.9    1.0   100   19.1 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   10 29 46.8   -12 26 25    47.501   48.027  121.0    1.0   100   19.1 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   10 29 45.4   -12 25 54    47.514   48.027  120.1    1.0   101   19.1 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   10 29 44.0   -12 25 23    47.527   48.027  119.2    1.1   101   19.1 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   10 29 42.7   -12 24 52    47.541   48.027  118.3    1.1   102   19.1 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   10 29 41.5   -12 24 22    47.555   48.027  117.4    1.1   102   19.1 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   10 29 40.4   -12 23 51    47.569   48.027  116.5    1.1   102   19.1 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   10 29 39.3   -12 23 21    47.582   48.027  115.6    1.1   103   19.1 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   10 29 38.3   -12 22 51    47.597   48.027  114.7    1.1   103   19.1 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   10 29 37.4   -12 22 22    47.611   48.027  113.8    1.1   104   19.1 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   10 29 36.6   -12 21 53    47.625   48.026  112.9    1.1   104   19.1 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   10 29 35.8   -12 21 24    47.640   48.026  112.0    1.1   104   19.1 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   10 29 35.2   -12 20 55    47.654   48.026  111.1    1.1   105   19.1 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   10 29 34.6   -12 20 27    47.669   48.026  110.2    1.1   105   19.1 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   10 29 34.1   -12 19 59    47.684   48.026  109.3    1.1   106   19.1 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   10 29 33.6   -12 19 31    47.698   48.026  108.4    1.1   106   19.1 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   10 29 33.3   -12 19 04    47.713   48.026  107.5    1.2   106   19.1 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   10 29 33.0   -12 18 37    47.728   48.026  106.6    1.2   107   19.1 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   10 29 32.8   -12 18 10    47.743   48.026  105.7    1.2   107   19.1 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   10 29 32.7   -12 17 44    47.759   48.026  104.7    1.2   107   19.1 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   10 29 32.6   -12 17 18    47.774   48.026  103.8    1.2   108   19.1 
2024-05-21 00:00 UT   10 29 32.6   -12 16 53    47.789   48.026  102.9    1.2   108   19.1 
2024-05-22 00:00 UT   10 29 32.7   -12 16 28    47.805   48.026  102.0    1.2   109   19.1 
2024-05-23 00:00 UT   10 29 32.9   -12 16 03    47.820   48.026  101.1    1.2   109   19.1 
2024-05-24 00:00 UT   10 29 33.2   -12 15 39    47.836   48.026  100.2    1.2   109   19.1 
2024-05-25 00:00 UT   10 29 33.5   -12 15 15    47.851   48.026   99.3    1.2   110   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.