(49) Pales
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 Nov 2026	11.5	2.464 AU	1.533 AU	04h58m	+25°55'	154.8°	9.9°
Opposition	4 Dec 2026	11.0	2.487 AU	1.502 AU	04h41m	+25°07'	177.1°	1.1°

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)                : 0.2213069
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0973007
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.20160
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 284.98362
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.48330
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 349.08583
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 218.49965
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.93619
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.45            
        

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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-11-14 00:00 UT   04 58 57.4   +25 55 27     1.533    2.464  154.8    9.9   257   11.5 
2026-11-14 14:30 UT   04 58 32.0   +25 54 29     1.530    2.465  155.5    9.6   257   11.5 
2026-11-15 00:00 UT   04 58 15.0   +25 53 51     1.529    2.465  155.9    9.4   257   11.5 
2026-11-16 00:00 UT   04 57 31.3   +25 52 09     1.525    2.466  157.1    9.0   256   11.5 
2026-11-17 00:00 UT   04 56 46.3   +25 50 23     1.521    2.467  158.3    8.5   256   11.4 
2026-11-18 00:00 UT   04 56 00.2   +25 48 31     1.518    2.468  159.4    8.1   255   11.4 
2026-11-19 00:00 UT   04 55 12.9   +25 46 35     1.515    2.469  160.6    7.6   255   11.4 
2026-11-20 00:00 UT   04 54 24.6   +25 44 35     1.512    2.470  161.8    7.2   254   11.4 
2026-11-21 00:00 UT   04 53 35.3   +25 42 29     1.510    2.472  163.0    6.7   253   11.4 
2026-11-22 00:00 UT   04 52 45.0   +25 40 19     1.508    2.473  164.1    6.3   252   11.3 
2026-11-23 00:00 UT   04 51 54.0   +25 38 03     1.506    2.474  165.3    5.8   251   11.3 
2026-11-24 00:00 UT   04 51 02.1   +25 35 44     1.504    2.475  166.5    5.3   250   11.3 
2026-11-25 00:00 UT   04 50 09.6   +25 33 20     1.503    2.476  167.7    4.9   249   11.3 
2026-11-26 00:00 UT   04 49 16.4   +25 30 51     1.501    2.477  168.9    4.4   247   11.2 
2026-11-27 00:00 UT   04 48 22.7   +25 28 18     1.501    2.478  170.0    3.9   245   11.2 
2026-11-28 00:00 UT   04 47 28.5   +25 25 41     1.500    2.480  171.2    3.5   243   11.2 
2026-11-29 00:00 UT   04 46 33.9   +25 22 60     1.500    2.481  172.3    3.0   240   11.2 
2026-11-30 00:00 UT   04 45 38.9   +25 20 14     1.499    2.482  173.5    2.6   236   11.1 
2026-12-01 00:00 UT   04 44 43.8   +25 17 25     1.500    2.483  174.5    2.2   230   11.1 
2026-12-02 00:00 UT   04 43 48.4   +25 14 33     1.500    2.484  175.5    1.8   222   11.1 
2026-12-03 00:00 UT   04 42 53.0   +25 11 37     1.501    2.486  176.4    1.4   209   11.0 
2026-12-04 00:00 UT   04 41 57.6   +25 08 37     1.502    2.487  177.0    1.2   190   11.0 
2026-12-05 00:00 UT   04 41 02.3   +25 05 35     1.503    2.488  177.1    1.1   166   11.0 
2026-12-06 00:00 UT   04 40 07.2   +25 02 29     1.505    2.489  176.8    1.3   144   11.0 
2026-12-07 00:00 UT   04 39 12.3   +24 59 21     1.507    2.490  176.0    1.6   128   11.1 
2026-12-08 00:00 UT   04 38 17.7   +24 56 11     1.509    2.492  175.1    1.9   117   11.1 
2026-12-09 00:00 UT   04 37 23.6   +24 52 58     1.511    2.493  174.1    2.3   110   11.1 
2026-12-10 00:00 UT   04 36 30.0   +24 49 44     1.514    2.494  173.0    2.8   105   11.2 
2026-12-11 00:00 UT   04 35 37.0   +24 46 28     1.517    2.496  171.9    3.2   101   11.2 
2026-12-12 00:00 UT   04 34 44.7   +24 43 10     1.520    2.497  170.7    3.6    98   11.2 
2026-12-13 00:00 UT   04 33 53.0   +24 39 52     1.523    2.498  169.6    4.1    96   11.3 
2026-12-14 00:00 UT   04 33 02.2   +24 36 32     1.527    2.499  168.4    4.6    95   11.3 

    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.