(90482) Orcus
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 May 2025	19.1	48.009 AU	47.677 AU	10h33m	-12°46'	108.6°	1.1°
Opposition	7 Mar 2026	19.0	47.993 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)                : 0.2231446
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.2890646
            i (Inclination)                 : 20.55553
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.38604
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 73.79654
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 187.21828
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 341.14422
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 19.70440
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 246.27            
        

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
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   10 33 01.6   -12 46 11    47.677   48.009  108.6    1.1   106   19.1 
2025-05-16 07:23 UT   10 33 01.5   -12 46 02    47.681   48.009  108.4    1.1   106   19.1 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   10 33 01.2   -12 45 43    47.692   48.009  107.7    1.1   106   19.1 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   10 33 00.9   -12 45 16    47.706   48.009  106.8    1.2   107   19.1 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   10 33 00.7   -12 44 49    47.722   48.009  105.9    1.2   107   19.1 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   10 33 00.5   -12 44 23    47.737   48.009  105.0    1.2   108   19.1 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   10 33 00.5   -12 43 57    47.752   48.009  104.1    1.2   108   19.1 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   10 33 00.5   -12 43 31    47.767   48.009  103.2    1.2   108   19.1 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   10 33 00.6   -12 43 06    47.783   48.009  102.3    1.2   109   19.1 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   10 33 00.8   -12 42 41    47.798   48.009  101.4    1.2   109   19.1 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   10 33 01.0   -12 42 16    47.813   48.009  100.5    1.2   109   19.1 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   10 33 01.4   -12 41 52    47.829   48.009   99.6    1.2   110   19.1 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   10 33 01.8   -12 41 28    47.845   48.009   98.7    1.2   110   19.1 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   10 33 02.3   -12 41 05    47.860   48.009   97.8    1.2   110   19.1 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   10 33 02.8   -12 40 42    47.876   48.008   96.9    1.2   111   19.1 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   10 33 03.5   -12 40 20    47.892   48.008   96.0    1.2   111   19.1 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   10 33 04.2   -12 39 58    47.907   48.008   95.1    1.2   111   19.1 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   10 33 05.0   -12 39 37    47.923   48.008   94.2    1.2   112   19.1 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   10 33 05.9   -12 39 16    47.939   48.008   93.3    1.2   112   19.1 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   10 33 06.8   -12 38 55    47.955   48.008   92.4    1.2   112   19.1 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   10 33 07.9   -12 38 35    47.970   48.008   91.5    1.2   113   19.1 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   10 33 09.0   -12 38 16    47.986   48.008   90.6    1.2   113   19.1 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   10 33 10.2   -12 37 57    48.002   48.008   89.7    1.2   113   19.1 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   10 33 11.5   -12 37 39    48.018   48.008   88.8    1.2   114   19.1 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   10 33 12.8   -12 37 21    48.034   48.008   87.9    1.2   114   19.1 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   10 33 14.2   -12 37 03    48.049   48.008   87.0    1.2   114   19.1 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   10 33 15.7   -12 36 46    48.065   48.008   86.2    1.2   115   19.1 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   10 33 17.3   -12 36 30    48.081   48.008   85.3    1.2   115   19.1 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   10 33 18.9   -12 36 14    48.097   48.008   84.4    1.2   115   19.1 
2025-06-13 00:00 UT   10 33 20.6   -12 35 59    48.112   48.008   83.5    1.2   116   19.1 
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   10 33 22.4   -12 35 44    48.128   48.008   82.6    1.2   116   19.1 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   10 33 24.3   -12 35 29    48.144   48.008   81.7    1.2   116   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.