(2) Pallas
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	5 Mar 2026	10.0	3.226 AU	4.210 AU	22h46m	-01°33'	6.0°	1.8°
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)                : 211.52977
            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
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   22 46 35.3   -01 33 17     4.210    3.226    6.0    1.8   322   10.0 
2026-03-05 20:37 UT   22 47 44.1   -01 29 56     4.209    3.224    6.1    1.9   317   10.0 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   22 47 55.4   -01 29 23     4.209    3.224    6.1    1.9   316   10.0 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   22 49 15.5   -01 25 26     4.207    3.223    6.3    1.9   310   10.0 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   22 50 35.5   -01 21 29     4.205    3.221    6.6    2.0   305   10.0 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   22 51 55.5   -01 17 30     4.203    3.220    6.9    2.1   300   10.0 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   22 53 15.5   -01 13 30     4.201    3.218    7.3    2.2   295   10.0 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   22 54 35.5   -01 09 29     4.198    3.217    7.7    2.4   291   10.0 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   22 55 55.5   -01 05 26     4.196    3.215    8.2    2.5   288   10.0 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   22 57 15.4   -01 01 22     4.193    3.214    8.6    2.7   284   10.0 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   22 58 35.3   +00 57 18     4.190    3.212    9.1    2.8   281   10.0 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   22 59 55.2   +00 53 12     4.187    3.211    9.7    3.0   279   10.1 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   23 01 15.1   +00 49 06     4.184    3.209   10.2    3.1   277   10.1 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   23 02 34.9   +00 44 58     4.180    3.208   10.7    3.3   274   10.1 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   23 03 54.6   +00 40 50     4.176    3.206   11.3    3.5   273   10.1 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   23 05 14.4   +00 36 41     4.173    3.205   11.9    3.7   271   10.1 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   23 06 34.0   +00 32 32     4.169    3.203   12.5    3.8   269   10.1 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   23 07 53.6   +00 28 22     4.164    3.202   13.1    4.0   268   10.1 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   23 09 13.2   +00 24 12     4.160    3.200   13.6    4.2   267   10.1 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   23 10 32.7   +00 20 01     4.155    3.199   14.2    4.4   265   10.1 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   23 11 52.1   +00 15 50     4.151    3.197   14.9    4.6   264   10.1 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   23 13 11.5   +00 11 39     4.146    3.196   15.5    4.8   263   10.1 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   23 14 30.8   +00 07 28     4.141    3.194   16.1    5.0   262   10.1 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   23 15 50.0   +00 03 17     4.136    3.193   16.7    5.2   262   10.1 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   23 17 09.2   +00 00 55     4.130    3.191   17.3    5.3   261   10.1 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   23 18 28.3   +00 05 06     4.125    3.190   17.9    5.5   260   10.2 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   23 19 47.3   +00 09 17     4.119    3.188   18.6    5.7   259   10.2 

    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.