Asteroid 1 Ceres
Asteroid 1 Ceres is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 1 Ceres in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of asteroid 1 Ceres against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 1 Ceres from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Distance from Earth
The distance of asteroid 1 Ceres from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 1 Ceres from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of 1 Ceres from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1600 and December 30, 2499, the closest approach of asteroid 1 Ceres to Earth happened on Monday 11 February 1636 at a distance of 1.573972 Astronomical Units, or 235,462,867 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of asteroid 1 Ceres, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of asteroid 1 Ceres at epoch February, 24 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.07881745 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 10.58634327° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.54907953 AU 381,336,871 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
2.98528395 AU 446,592,124 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.76718174 AU 413,964,497 km |
| Orbital period | period |
4.6033 years 1,681.3377 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | December 6, 2022 2,459,920.0963 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | July 14, 2027 2,461,601.4340 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 73.470461544247° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 80.260148690589° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 17.215651496148° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.21411522°/day |
Orbit Visualization
The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 1 Ceres relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of asteroid 1 Ceres. The source for this data is the JPL Small-Body Database.
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 952.4 km | 0.0747 |
| Sideral Rotation | 9.0742 hours | 0.3791 |
| Absolute Magnitude | 3.34 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.09 |
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of asteroid 1 Ceres computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19 2025 | 00h 51m 21s | -05° 53’ 13” | 9.11 | Cetus |
| Jun 20 2025 | 00h 52m 19s | -05° 50’ 11” | 9.10 | Cetus |
| Jun 21 2025 | 00h 53m 15s | -05° 47’ 15” | 9.09 | Cetus |
| Jun 22 2025 | 00h 54m 11s | -05° 44’ 25” | 9.09 | Cetus |
| Jun 23 2025 | 00h 55m 06s | -05° 41’ 41” | 9.08 | Cetus |
| Jun 24 2025 | 00h 56m 01s | -05° 39’ 03” | 9.07 | Cetus |
| Jun 25 2025 | 00h 56m 55s | -05° 36’ 32” | 9.06 | Cetus |
| Jun 26 2025 | 00h 57m 48s | -05° 34’ 07” | 9.05 | Cetus |
| Jun 27 2025 | 00h 58m 41s | -05° 31’ 49” | 9.04 | Cetus |
| Jun 28 2025 | 00h 59m 32s | -05° 29’ 37” | 9.03 | Cetus |
| Jun 29 2025 | 01h 00m 23s | -05° 27’ 32” | 9.02 | Cetus |
| Jun 30 2025 | 01h 01m 14s | -05° 25’ 32” | 9.01 | Cetus |
| Jul 01 2025 | 01h 02m 03s | -05° 23’ 39” | 9.00 | Cetus |
| Jul 02 2025 | 01h 02m 52s | -05° 21’ 54” | 8.99 | Cetus |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Asteroid 1 Ceres: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is asteroid 1 Ceres?: Key information on where to find asteroid 1 Ceres in the sky.
- Distance of asteroid 1 Ceres from Earth: Find out how far asteroid 1 Ceres is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is asteroid 1 Ceres?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of asteroid 1 Ceres from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of asteroid 1 Ceres's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of asteroid 1 Ceres's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days asteroid 1 Ceres's computed ephemeris.
- Orbital elements: Information about asteroid 1 Ceres orbital parameters.
- Orbit Visualization: 3D interactive visualization showing the orbit of asteroid 1 Ceres with respect to the major Solar System objects.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of asteroid 1 Ceres.