(2) Pallas
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Apr 2024	9.0	2.888 AU	2.180 AU	16h46m	+21°08'	126.0°	16.3°
Opposition	19 May 2024	9.0	2.952 AU	2.168 AU	16h27m	+26°03'	133.0°	14.5°

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)                : 0.2303399
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7704235
            i (Inclination)                 : 34.92284
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 172.91472
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.88725
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 83.32724
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 129.47486
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -25.64468
            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
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   16 46 56.3   +21 08 18     2.180    2.888  126.0   16.3   237    9.0 
2024-04-20 03:05 UT   16 46 53.4   +21 10 02     2.179    2.888  126.1   16.3   237    9.0 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   16 46 32.8   +21 21 41     2.177    2.890  126.5   16.2   236    9.0 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   16 46 07.9   +21 34 53     2.174    2.892  127.0   16.1   234    9.0 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   16 45 41.6   +21 47 56     2.171    2.894  127.4   16.0   233    9.0 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   16 45 14.0   +22 00 47     2.169    2.896  127.8   15.9   232    9.0 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   16 44 45.0   +22 13 27     2.166    2.899  128.2   15.8   231    9.0 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   16 44 14.7   +22 25 54     2.164    2.901  128.6   15.7   229    9.0 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   16 43 43.2   +22 38 10     2.162    2.903  129.0   15.6   228    9.0 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   16 43 10.3   +22 50 12     2.160    2.905  129.4   15.5   226    9.0 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   16 42 36.2   +23 02 01     2.159    2.908  129.8   15.4   225    9.0 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   16 42 01.0   +23 13 36     2.157    2.910  130.1   15.4   224    9.0 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   16 41 24.5   +23 24 57     2.156    2.912  130.4   15.3   222    9.0 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   16 40 46.9   +23 36 03     2.155    2.914  130.7   15.2   221    9.0 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   16 40 08.2   +23 46 53     2.154    2.916  131.0   15.1   219    9.0 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   16 39 28.4   +23 57 28     2.153    2.919  131.3   15.0   218    9.0 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   16 38 47.5   +24 07 47     2.153    2.921  131.5   15.0   216    9.0 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   16 38 05.7   +24 17 49     2.153    2.923  131.8   14.9   215    9.0 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   16 37 22.9   +24 27 34     2.153    2.925  132.0   14.9   213    9.0 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   16 36 39.2   +24 37 02     2.153    2.927  132.2   14.8   212    9.0 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   16 35 54.6   +24 46 11     2.153    2.930  132.3   14.8   210    9.0 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   16 35 09.2   +24 55 03     2.153    2.932  132.5   14.7   209    9.0 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   16 34 23.0   +25 03 36     2.154    2.934  132.6   14.7   207    9.0 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   16 33 36.1   +25 11 50     2.155    2.936  132.8   14.6   205    9.0 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   16 32 48.6   +25 19 45     2.156    2.938  132.8   14.6   204    9.0 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   16 32 00.4   +25 27 20     2.157    2.940  132.9   14.6   202    9.0 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   16 31 11.6   +25 34 36     2.159    2.943  133.0   14.6   201    9.0 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   16 30 22.3   +25 41 32     2.161    2.945  133.0   14.5   199    9.0 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   16 29 32.5   +25 48 08     2.163    2.947  133.0   14.5   197    9.0 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   16 28 42.3   +25 54 23     2.165    2.949  133.0   14.5   196    9.0 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   16 27 51.8   +26 00 19     2.167    2.951  133.0   14.5   194    9.0 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   16 27 00.9   +26 05 53     2.169    2.953  133.0   14.5   193    9.0 

    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.