(2) Pallas
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 May 2026	10.2	3.116 AU	3.725 AU	00h14m	+02°51'	46.5°	13.6°
Opposition	6 Oct 2026	8.2	2.807 AU	1.851 AU	01h22m	-14°00'	159.0°	7.3°

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)                : 0.2306430
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7699258
            i (Inclination)                 : 34.92833
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 172.88859
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.93340
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 211.52976
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 129.49720
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -25.62926
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   00 14 36.7   +02 51 04     3.725    3.116   46.5   13.6   248   10.2 
2026-05-12 04:30 UT   00 14 50.4   +02 51 37     3.722    3.116   46.6   13.6   248   10.2 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   00 15 49.7   +02 53 60     3.712    3.114   47.1   13.8   248   10.2 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   00 17 02.5   +02 56 52     3.700    3.112   47.8   13.9   248   10.2 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   00 18 15.0   +02 59 40     3.688    3.111   48.5   14.1   247   10.2 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   00 19 27.4   +03 02 25     3.675    3.109   49.1   14.2   247   10.2 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   00 20 39.5   +03 05 07     3.662    3.107   49.8   14.4   247   10.2 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   00 21 51.3   +03 07 44     3.649    3.105   50.5   14.5   247   10.2 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   00 23 02.9   +03 10 17     3.637    3.103   51.1   14.7   247   10.2 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   00 24 14.3   +03 12 46     3.623    3.102   51.8   14.9   247   10.2 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   00 25 25.4   +03 15 12     3.610    3.100   52.5   15.0   247   10.2 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   00 26 36.3   +03 17 33     3.597    3.098   53.2   15.2   247   10.2 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   00 27 46.9   +03 19 49     3.584    3.096   53.8   15.3   247   10.2 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   00 28 57.2   +03 22 01     3.570    3.094   54.5   15.5   247   10.2 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   00 30 07.2   +03 24 09     3.557    3.092   55.2   15.6   247   10.2 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   00 31 17.0   +03 26 12     3.543    3.091   55.9   15.7   247   10.2 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   00 32 26.5   +03 28 11     3.529    3.089   56.6   15.9   247   10.2 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   00 33 35.7   +03 30 04     3.515    3.087   57.2   16.0   247   10.2 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   00 34 44.7   +03 31 53     3.501    3.085   57.9   16.2   247   10.2 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   00 35 53.3   +03 33 37     3.487    3.083   58.6   16.3   247   10.2 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   00 37 01.6   +03 35 16     3.473    3.081   59.3   16.4   247   10.1 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   00 38 09.7   +03 36 50     3.459    3.079   60.0   16.6   247   10.1 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   00 39 17.4   +03 38 19     3.445    3.078   60.7   16.7   247   10.1 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   00 40 24.8   +03 39 42     3.430    3.076   61.4   16.8   247   10.1 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   00 41 31.9   +03 41 00     3.416    3.074   62.1   16.9   247   10.1 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   00 42 38.6   +03 42 13     3.401    3.072   62.8   17.1   247   10.1 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   00 43 45.1   +03 43 19     3.386    3.070   63.5   17.2   247   10.1 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   00 44 51.1   +03 44 20     3.372    3.068   64.2   17.3   247   10.1 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   00 45 56.9   +03 45 16     3.357    3.066   64.9   17.4   247   10.1 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   00 47 02.3   +03 46 05     3.342    3.064   65.6   17.6   247   10.1 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   00 48 07.3   +03 46 48     3.327    3.062   66.3   17.7   247   10.1 

    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.