(2) Pallas
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today31 Mar 202510.53.386 AU3.760 AU20h33m+08°59'60.8°14.9°
Opposition7 Aug 20259.43.404 AU2.503 AU20h33m+14°41'147.7°9.2°
(2) Pallas - 2025-03-31
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 Pallas are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2305404
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7701937
            i (Inclination)                 : 34.92402
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 172.89530
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.91037
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 168.79870
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 129.47918
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -25.63588
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.61            
        

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
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   20 33 21.3   +08 59 38     3.760    3.386   60.8   14.9   270   10.5 
2025-03-31 00:48 UT   20 33 23.1   +08 59 52     3.760    3.386   60.8   14.9   270   10.5 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   20 34 17.2   +09 06 23     3.750    3.387   61.4   15.0   270   10.5 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   20 35 12.6   +09 13 09     3.740    3.387   62.0   15.1   269   10.5 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   20 36 07.3   +09 19 57     3.729    3.388   62.6   15.2   269   10.5 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   20 37 01.4   +09 26 47     3.719    3.388   63.2   15.3   268   10.5 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   20 37 54.9   +09 33 38     3.708    3.389   63.9   15.4   268   10.5 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   20 38 47.7   +09 40 30     3.698    3.389   64.5   15.5   268   10.4 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   20 39 39.9   +09 47 23     3.687    3.390   65.1   15.5   267   10.4 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   20 40 31.5   +09 54 17     3.676    3.390   65.8   15.6   267   10.4 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   20 41 22.4   +10 01 13     3.665    3.391   66.4   15.7   266   10.4 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   20 42 12.6   +10 08 09     3.654    3.391   67.0   15.8   266   10.4 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   20 43 02.2   +10 15 07     3.643    3.392   67.7   15.9   265   10.4 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   20 43 51.1   +10 22 05     3.632    3.392   68.3   15.9   265   10.4 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   20 44 39.3   +10 29 04     3.621    3.393   69.0   16.0   264   10.4 
2025-04-14 00:00 UT   20 45 26.8   +10 36 03     3.610    3.393   69.6   16.1   264   10.4 
2025-04-15 00:00 UT   20 46 13.6   +10 43 03     3.598    3.393   70.3   16.2   263   10.4 
2025-04-16 00:00 UT   20 46 59.7   +10 50 04     3.587    3.394   70.9   16.2   263   10.4 
2025-04-17 00:00 UT   20 47 45.1   +10 57 05     3.576    3.394   71.6   16.3   263   10.4 
2025-04-18 00:00 UT   20 48 29.8   +11 04 07     3.564    3.395   72.2   16.4   262   10.4 
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   20 49 13.8   +11 11 08     3.552    3.395   72.9   16.4   262   10.4 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   20 49 56.9   +11 18 10     3.541    3.396   73.5   16.5   261   10.4 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   20 50 39.4   +11 25 12     3.529    3.396   74.2   16.5   261   10.4 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   20 51 21.1   +11 32 14     3.517    3.396   74.9   16.6   260   10.4 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   20 52 02.0   +11 39 16     3.505    3.397   75.5   16.7   260   10.4 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   20 52 42.1   +11 46 17     3.494    3.397   76.2   16.7   260   10.4 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   20 53 21.5   +11 53 18     3.482    3.397   76.9   16.8   259   10.4 
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   20 53 60.0   +12 00 18     3.470    3.398   77.5   16.8   259   10.4 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   20 54 37.7   +12 07 18     3.458    3.398   78.2   16.9   258   10.4 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   20 55 14.6   +12 14 17     3.445    3.398   78.9   16.9   258   10.4 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   20 55 50.7   +12 21 15     3.433    3.399   79.6   16.9   257   10.3 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   20 56 25.9   +12 28 12     3.421    3.399   80.3   17.0   257   10.3 


    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.