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Solar
Dwarf planet candidate

Orcus

(90482) Orcus

Wikipedia ↗

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
47.979 AU
True anomaly
186.26°
Distance from Earth
48.853 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.

Sun Earth — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Orcus — 47.979 AU from the Sun Orcus
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Orcus is 48.853 AU from Earth today (6.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 44m 41s
Declination
-13° 31′ 48″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
48.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
29.41° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
39.377 AU
Eccentricity
0.2205
Inclination
20.56°
Orbital period
247.1 years
Perihelion
30.693 AU
Aphelion
48.06 AU
Longitude of ascending node
268.41°
Argument of periapsis
73.57°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · TNO
Trans-Neptunian object
Earth MOID · 11,575.8 LD
29.7447 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.157

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
2,158
Data arc
74.43 years
First observed
8 November 1951
Last observed
13 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
459 km
Mass
6.348 × 10²⁰ kg
Rotation period
13.19 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.231
Absolute magnitude (H)
2.31

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Brown, M. E., Trujillo, C. A., Rabinowitz, D. L.
Discovery date
17 February 2004
Discovery site
Palomar

Orcus was the Roman god of death, the counterpart of the Greek Pluto. Orcus collected the dead and carried them back to the underworld that he ruled.

Also known as 90482 · 2004 DW · 90482 Orcus (2004 DW)

Named TNO

1 moons

Vanth 221 km — — — 9.5 days

Sources