(49) Pales
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Oct 2026	11.9	2.445 AU	1.657 AU	05h07m	+26°11'	132.9°	17.3°
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) : 284.98356
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.48337
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 349.08582
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 218.49966
            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
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   05 07 20.7   +26 11 38     1.657    2.445  132.9   17.3   262   11.9 
2026-10-25 14:23 UT   05 07 16.3   +26 11 33     1.652    2.446  133.6   17.1   262   11.9 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   05 07 13.0   +26 11 29     1.649    2.446  134.0   17.0   262   11.9 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   05 07 03.3   +26 11 17     1.641    2.447  135.0   16.7   261   11.9 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   05 06 51.7   +26 11 01     1.633    2.448  136.0   16.4   261   11.9 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   05 06 38.3   +26 10 40     1.626    2.449  137.1   16.0   261   11.9 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   05 06 22.9   +26 10 16     1.619    2.450  138.1   15.7   261   11.8 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   05 06 05.6   +26 09 48     1.611    2.450  139.2   15.4   261   11.8 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   05 05 46.4   +26 09 15     1.604    2.451  140.3   15.0   261   11.8 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   05 05 25.4   +26 08 39     1.598    2.452  141.3   14.6   260   11.8 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   05 05 02.5   +26 07 58     1.591    2.453  142.4   14.3   260   11.8 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   05 04 37.8   +26 07 12     1.585    2.454  143.5   13.9   260   11.7 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   05 04 11.3   +26 06 23     1.579    2.455  144.6   13.5   260   11.7 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   05 03 43.0   +26 05 28     1.573    2.456  145.7   13.1   260   11.7 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   05 03 13.0   +26 04 30     1.567    2.457  146.8   12.8   259   11.7 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   05 02 41.3   +26 03 26     1.561    2.458  147.9   12.4   259   11.6 
2026-11-09 00:00 UT   05 02 07.9   +26 02 18     1.556    2.459  149.1   12.0   259   11.6 
2026-11-10 00:00 UT   05 01 32.8   +26 01 06     1.551    2.460  150.2   11.5   259   11.6 
2026-11-11 00:00 UT   05 00 56.2   +25 59 48     1.546    2.461  151.3   11.1   258   11.6 
2026-11-12 00:00 UT   05 00 18.1   +25 58 26     1.541    2.462  152.5   10.7   258   11.6 
2026-11-13 00:00 UT   04 59 38.5   +25 56 59     1.537    2.463  153.6   10.3   258   11.5 
2026-11-14 00:00 UT   04 58 57.4   +25 55 27     1.533    2.464  154.8    9.9   257   11.5 
2026-11-15 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 

    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.