(1) Ceres
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	5 Sep 2026	8.8	2.694 AU	2.975 AU	06h34m	+22°51'	64.2°	19.7°
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)                : 0.0796923
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7655526
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.58803
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.24863
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.29420
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 274.41935
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 153.26998
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 10.13632
            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
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   06 34 07.2   +22 51 09     2.975    2.694   64.2   19.7   273    8.8 
2026-09-05 12:55 UT   06 34 54.0   +22 51 40     2.968    2.694   64.6   19.8   273    8.8 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   06 35 34.0   +22 52 07     2.962    2.693   64.9   19.8   273    8.8 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   06 37 00.2   +22 53 04     2.949    2.692   65.5   19.9   274    8.8 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   06 38 26.0   +22 53 59     2.936    2.692   66.2   20.0   274    8.8 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   06 39 51.3   +22 54 53     2.923    2.691   66.8   20.1   274    8.8 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   06 41 16.0   +22 55 46     2.910    2.690   67.5   20.2   274    8.8 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   06 42 40.2   +22 56 38     2.897    2.689   68.1   20.3   274    8.8 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   06 44 03.8   +22 57 30     2.884    2.688   68.8   20.4   274    8.8 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   06 45 26.9   +22 58 20     2.871    2.688   69.4   20.5   274    8.8 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   06 46 49.3   +22 59 09     2.858    2.687   70.1   20.6   275    8.8 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   06 48 11.3   +22 59 58     2.844    2.686   70.7   20.7   275    8.8 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   06 49 32.6   +23 00 46     2.831    2.685   71.4   20.8   275    8.8 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   06 50 53.3   +23 01 34     2.818    2.684   72.1   20.9   275    8.8 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   06 52 13.3   +23 02 21     2.804    2.684   72.7   21.0   275    8.8 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   06 53 32.8   +23 03 09     2.791    2.683   73.4   21.0   275    8.7 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   06 54 51.6   +23 03 55     2.777    2.682   74.1   21.1   275    8.7 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   06 56 09.7   +23 04 42     2.764    2.681   74.8   21.2   276    8.7 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   06 57 27.2   +23 05 29     2.750    2.680   75.5   21.3   276    8.7 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   06 58 44.0   +23 06 16     2.737    2.680   76.1   21.3   276    8.7 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   07 00 00.2   +23 07 04     2.723    2.679   76.8   21.4   276    8.7 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   07 01 15.6   +23 07 51     2.709    2.678   77.5   21.4   276    8.7 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   07 02 30.3   +23 08 40     2.696    2.677   78.2   21.5   276    8.7 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   07 03 44.3   +23 09 28     2.682    2.677   78.9   21.6   276    8.7 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   07 04 57.5   +23 10 18     2.668    2.676   79.6   21.6   276    8.7 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   07 06 10.0   +23 11 08     2.654    2.675   80.3   21.7   277    8.6 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   07 07 21.8   +23 11 59     2.640    2.674   81.0   21.7   277    8.6 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   07 08 32.7   +23 12 51     2.627    2.673   81.8   21.8   277    8.6 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   07 09 42.9   +23 13 44     2.613    2.673   82.5   21.8   277    8.6 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   07 10 52.2   +23 14 39     2.599    2.672   83.2   21.8   277    8.6 

    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.