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Solar
Dwarf planet

Ceres

(1) Ceres

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Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.673 AU
True anomaly
290.71°
Distance from Earth
2.594 AU
As of
2 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Ceres — 2.673 AU from the Sun Ceres
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Ceres is 2.594 AU from Earth today (21.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 10m 41s
Declination
+23° 14′ 23″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
2.58 AU
Elongation from the Sun
84° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it's up after dark, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
2.766 AU
Eccentricity
0.0797
Inclination
10.59°
Orbital period
4.6 years
Perihelion
2.545 AU
Aphelion
2.986 AU
Longitude of ascending node
80.25°
Argument of periapsis
73.29°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 615.3 LD
1.5811 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.31

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,075
Data arc
26.06 years
First observed
5 January 1995
Last observed
28 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
13 April 2021

Physical properties

Mean radius
470 km
Mass
9.384 × 10²⁰ kg
Density
2.162 g/cm³
Rotation period
9.07 hours
Axial tilt
4°
Surface gravity
0.27 m/s²
Escape velocity
0.51 km/s
GM
62.628 km³/s²
Shape · km
964.4 x 964.2 x 891.8

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.09
Absolute magnitude (H)
3.34
Colour index (B–V)
0.71
Spectral type (SMASS)
C
Spectral type (Tholen)
G
Colour index (U–B)
0.43
Representative colour
#A6A6A0

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Piazzi, G.
Discovery date
1 January 1801
Discovery site
Palermo

Also known as 1 · A801 AA · 1 Ceres (A801 AA) · 1943 XB · A899 OF

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2056-06-26 01:01:00 10 Hygiea 0.0258 AU 10.1 LD 4.7 km/s
2056-06-26 01:01:00 Hygie 0.0258 AU 10.1 LD 4.7 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources