(1) Ceres
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Aug 2026	8.9	2.711 AU	3.226 AU	06h02m	+22°23'	51.3°	17.0°
Opposition	7 Jan 2027	6.8	2.605 AU	1.627 AU	07h17m	+29°57'	172.3°	2.9°

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 Ceres are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0795764
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7656157
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.58789
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.24964
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.29974
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 231.53974
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 153.27662
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 10.13648
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.60            
        

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
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   06 02 09.8   +22 23 07     3.226    2.711   51.3   17.0   269    8.9 
2026-08-15 09:39 UT   06 02 47.9   +22 23 49     3.221    2.711   51.6   17.0   269    8.9 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   06 03 44.6   +22 24 52     3.215    2.710   51.9   17.1   270    8.9 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   06 05 19.1   +22 26 33     3.203    2.709   52.5   17.3   270    8.9 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   06 06 53.2   +22 28 12     3.192    2.709   53.1   17.4   270    8.9 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   06 08 27.1   +22 29 48     3.181    2.708   53.7   17.5   270    8.9 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   06 10 00.6   +22 31 22     3.169    2.707   54.3   17.7   270    8.9 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   06 11 33.8   +22 32 52     3.157    2.706   54.9   17.8   271    8.9 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   06 13 06.7   +22 34 21     3.146    2.705   55.6   18.0   271    8.9 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   06 14 39.2   +22 35 47     3.134    2.705   56.2   18.1   271    8.9 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   06 16 11.3   +22 37 10     3.122    2.704   56.8   18.2   271    8.9 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   06 17 43.1   +22 38 31     3.110    2.703   57.4   18.4   271    8.9 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   06 19 14.5   +22 39 50     3.098    2.702   58.0   18.5   271    8.9 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   06 20 45.5   +22 41 07     3.086    2.701   58.6   18.6   272    8.9 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   06 22 16.2   +22 42 21     3.074    2.701   59.2   18.7   272    8.9 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   06 23 46.4   +22 43 34     3.062    2.700   59.8   18.9   272    8.9 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   06 25 16.3   +22 44 44     3.050    2.699   60.5   19.0   272    8.9 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   06 26 45.7   +22 45 52     3.037    2.698   61.1   19.1   272    8.9 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   06 28 14.7   +22 46 59     3.025    2.697   61.7   19.2   273    8.9 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   06 29 43.3   +22 48 04     3.013    2.697   62.3   19.4   273    8.9 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   06 31 11.4   +22 49 06     3.000    2.696   63.0   19.5   273    8.9 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   06 32 39.1   +22 50 08     2.987    2.695   63.6   19.6   273    8.9 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   06 34 06.3   +22 51 07     2.975    2.694   64.2   19.7   273    8.8 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   06 35 33.1   +22 52 06     2.962    2.693   64.9   19.8   273    8.8 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   06 36 59.3   +22 53 02     2.949    2.693   65.5   19.9   274    8.8 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   06 38 25.1   +22 53 58     2.936    2.692   66.2   20.0   274    8.8 

    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.