(49) Pales
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Apr 2024	13.8	3.730 AU	2.872 AU	16h14m	-24°23'	143.8°	9.2°
Opposition	21 May 2024	13.2	3.706 AU	2.695 AU	15h52m	-23°21'	176.9°	0.8°

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 Pales are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2216742
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0992341
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.20077
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 284.99672
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.33304
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 204.70191
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 218.36231
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.93877
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.46            
        

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
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   16 14 58.2   -24 23 05     2.872    3.730  143.8    9.2   284   13.8 
2024-04-20 10:15 UT   16 14 45.3   -24 22 39     2.868    3.730  144.2    9.1   284   13.8 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   16 14 27.7   -24 22 04     2.863    3.730  144.8    8.9   285   13.8 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   16 13 56.3   -24 21 00     2.853    3.729  145.9    8.7   285   13.8 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   16 13 23.8   -24 19 52     2.844    3.728  147.0    8.4   285   13.7 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   16 12 50.3   -24 18 41     2.835    3.727  148.1    8.2   285   13.7 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   16 12 15.9   -24 17 25     2.827    3.727  149.2    7.9   286   13.7 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   16 11 40.5   -24 16 06     2.818    3.726  150.3    7.7   286   13.7 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   16 11 04.2   -24 14 42     2.810    3.725  151.4    7.4   286   13.7 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   16 10 27.0   -24 13 15     2.802    3.724  152.5    7.2   287   13.7 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   16 09 48.9   -24 11 44     2.794    3.724  153.7    6.9   287   13.6 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   16 09 09.9   -24 10 09     2.787    3.723  154.8    6.6   287   13.6 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   16 08 30.1   -24 08 31     2.780    3.722  155.9    6.3   288   13.6 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   16 07 49.6   -24 06 48     2.773    3.721  157.0    6.1   288   13.6 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   16 07 08.2   -24 05 02     2.766    3.721  158.1    5.8   289   13.6 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   16 06 26.1   -24 03 12     2.760    3.720  159.2    5.5   289   13.5 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   16 05 43.3   -24 01 18     2.754    3.719  160.4    5.2   290   13.5 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   16 04 59.9   -23 59 20     2.748    3.718  161.5    4.9   290   13.5 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   16 04 15.8   -23 57 19     2.742    3.718  162.6    4.7   291   13.5 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   16 03 31.1   -23 55 14     2.737    3.717  163.7    4.4   292   13.5 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   16 02 45.9   -23 53 06     2.732    3.716  164.8    4.1   293   13.4 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   16 02 00.2   -23 50 54     2.727    3.715  166.0    3.8   294   13.4 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   16 01 14.0   -23 48 38     2.723    3.714  167.1    3.5   295   13.4 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   16 00 27.3   -23 46 20     2.719    3.714  168.2    3.2   297   13.4 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   15 59 40.3   -23 43 58     2.715    3.713  169.3    2.9   298   13.4 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   15 58 52.9   -23 41 33     2.712    3.712  170.4    2.6   300   13.3 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   15 58 05.2   -23 39 05     2.708    3.711  171.5    2.3   303   13.3 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   15 57 17.3   -23 36 34     2.705    3.710  172.5    2.0   306   13.3 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   15 56 29.1   -23 33 60     2.703    3.709  173.6    1.7   310   13.3 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   15 55 40.7   -23 31 23     2.700    3.709  174.6    1.5   316   13.2 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   15 54 52.2   -23 28 44     2.698    3.708  175.5    1.2   325   13.2 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   15 54 03.6   -23 26 02     2.697    3.707  176.2    1.0   337   13.2 

    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.