(90482) Orcus
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today14 Feb 202519.148.014 AU47.149 AU10h37m-13°29'150.9°0.6°
Opposition6 Mar 202519.048.013 AU47.082 AU10h36m-13°22'159.5°0.4°
(90482) Orcus - 2025-02-14
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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)                : 0.2262301
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.1904603
            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
2025-02-14 00:00 UT   10 37 38.8   -13 29 42    47.149   48.014  150.9    0.6   336   19.1 
2025-02-14 15:21 UT   10 37 36.2   -13 29 33    47.145   48.014  151.3    0.6   337   19.1 
2025-02-15 00:00 UT   10 37 34.7   -13 29 27    47.143   48.014  151.6    0.6   337   19.1 
2025-02-16 00:00 UT   10 37 30.5   -13 29 12    47.137   48.014  152.3    0.5   339   19.0 
2025-02-17 00:00 UT   10 37 26.4   -13 28 56    47.132   48.014  152.9    0.5   340   19.0 
2025-02-18 00:00 UT   10 37 22.2   -13 28 39    47.126   48.013  153.6    0.5   342   19.0 
2025-02-19 00:00 UT   10 37 17.9   -13 28 22    47.122   48.013  154.2    0.5   344   19.0 
2025-02-20 00:00 UT   10 37 13.7   -13 28 04    47.117   48.013  154.8    0.5   346   19.0 
2025-02-21 00:00 UT   10 37 09.5   -13 27 46    47.113   48.013  155.4    0.5   348   19.0 
2025-02-22 00:00 UT   10 37 05.2   -13 27 27    47.109   48.013  155.9    0.5   350   19.0 
2025-02-23 00:00 UT   10 37 01.0   -13 27 07    47.105   48.013  156.4    0.5   352   19.0 
2025-02-24 00:00 UT   10 36 56.7   -13 26 47    47.101   48.013  156.9    0.5   355   19.0 
2025-02-25 00:00 UT   10 36 52.5   -13 26 27    47.098   48.013  157.3    0.5   357   19.0 
2025-02-26 00:00 UT   10 36 48.2   -13 26 06    47.095   48.013  157.7    0.4   359   19.0 
2025-02-27 00:00 UT   10 36 44.0   -13 25 45    47.093   48.013  158.1    0.4     2   19.0 
2025-02-28 00:00 UT   10 36 39.7   -13 25 23    47.090   48.013  158.4    0.4     5   19.0 
2025-03-01 00:00 UT   10 36 35.4   -13 24 60    47.088   48.013  158.7    0.4     7   19.0 
2025-03-02 00:00 UT   10 36 31.2   -13 24 37    47.087   48.013  159.0    0.4    10   19.0 
2025-03-03 00:00 UT   10 36 26.9   -13 24 14    47.085   48.013  159.2    0.4    13   19.0 
2025-03-04 00:00 UT   10 36 22.7   -13 23 50    47.084   48.013  159.3    0.4    16   19.0 
2025-03-05 00:00 UT   10 36 18.5   -13 23 25    47.083   48.013  159.4    0.4    19   19.0 
2025-03-06 00:00 UT   10 36 14.2   -13 23 00    47.082   48.013  159.5    0.4    21   19.0 
2025-03-07 00:00 UT   10 36 10.0   -13 22 35    47.082   48.013  159.5    0.4    24   19.0 
2025-03-08 00:00 UT   10 36 05.8   -13 22 09    47.082   48.013  159.4    0.4    27   19.0 
2025-03-09 00:00 UT   10 36 01.7   -13 21 43    47.082   48.013  159.3    0.4    30   19.0 
2025-03-10 00:00 UT   10 35 57.5   -13 21 17    47.083   48.012  159.2    0.4    33   19.0 
2025-03-11 00:00 UT   10 35 53.4   -13 20 50    47.084   48.012  159.0    0.4    36   19.0 
2025-03-12 00:00 UT   10 35 49.2   -13 20 23    47.085   48.012  158.8    0.4    39   19.0 
2025-03-13 00:00 UT   10 35 45.1   -13 19 55    47.086   48.012  158.5    0.4    41   19.0 
2025-03-14 00:00 UT   10 35 41.0   -13 19 27    47.088   48.012  158.2    0.4    44   19.0 
2025-03-15 00:00 UT   10 35 37.0   -13 18 59    47.090   48.012  157.9    0.4    46   19.0 
2025-03-16 00:00 UT   10 35 32.9   -13 18 30    47.092   48.012  157.5    0.5    49   19.0 


    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.