(55) Pandora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Dec 2025	13.9	3.141 AU	3.543 AU	13h01m	-05°28'	58.4°	15.5°
Opposition	10 Apr 2026	12.1	3.155 AU	2.154 AU	13h15m	-10°08'	177.8°	0.7°

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 Pandora are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1450626
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7578498
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.17648
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 10.28384
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 4.93256
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 157.53436
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 15.17795
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.61546
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.58            
        

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
2025-12-07 00:00 UT   13 01 58.2   -05 28 25     3.543    3.141   58.4   15.5   293   13.9 
2025-12-07 08:14 UT   13 02 19.4   -05 30 56     3.539    3.141   58.6   15.5   293   13.9 
2025-12-08 00:00 UT   13 02 59.8   -05 35 42     3.531    3.142   59.1   15.6   293   13.9 
2025-12-09 00:00 UT   13 04 01.0   -05 42 56     3.519    3.142   59.9   15.7   293   13.9 
2025-12-10 00:00 UT   13 05 01.6   -05 50 07     3.506    3.142   60.6   15.8   293   13.9 
2025-12-11 00:00 UT   13 06 01.8   -05 57 14     3.494    3.143   61.3   16.0   293   13.9 
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   13 07 01.5   -06 04 18     3.481    3.143   62.1   16.1   293   13.9 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   13 08 00.8   -06 11 19     3.468    3.143   62.8   16.2   293   13.9 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   13 08 59.5   -06 18 16     3.456    3.144   63.6   16.3   293   13.9 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   13 09 57.7   -06 25 10     3.443    3.144   64.3   16.4   293   13.9 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   13 10 55.3   -06 32 01     3.430    3.144   65.1   16.5   293   13.9 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   13 11 52.5   -06 38 48     3.417    3.145   65.8   16.6   293   13.9 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   13 12 49.0   -06 45 31     3.404    3.145   66.6   16.7   293   13.9 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   13 13 45.1   -06 52 10     3.390    3.145   67.4   16.8   293   13.9 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   13 14 40.5   -06 58 46     3.377    3.146   68.1   16.9   292   13.9 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   13 15 35.3   -07 05 19     3.364    3.146   68.9   17.0   292   13.9 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   13 16 29.6   -07 11 47     3.350    3.146   69.7   17.0   292   13.9 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   13 17 23.3   -07 18 12     3.337    3.147   70.4   17.1   292   13.9 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   13 18 16.3   -07 24 32     3.323    3.147   71.2   17.2   292   13.8 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   13 19 08.7   -07 30 49     3.309    3.147   72.0   17.3   292   13.8 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   13 20 00.4   -07 37 02     3.296    3.148   72.8   17.4   292   13.8 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   13 20 51.5   -07 43 11     3.282    3.148   73.5   17.4   292   13.8 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   13 21 42.0   -07 49 15     3.268    3.148   74.3   17.5   292   13.8 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   13 22 31.7   -07 55 16     3.254    3.148   75.1   17.6   292   13.8 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   13 23 20.8   -08 01 13     3.240    3.149   75.9   17.6   292   13.8 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   13 24 09.2   -08 07 05     3.226    3.149   76.7   17.7   292   13.8 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   13 24 56.9   -08 12 54     3.212    3.149   77.5   17.7   292   13.8 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   13 25 43.8   -08 18 38     3.198    3.150   78.3   17.8   292   13.8 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   13 26 30.0   -08 24 17     3.184    3.150   79.1   17.9   292   13.8 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   13 27 15.5   -08 29 53     3.169    3.150   79.9   17.9   292   13.8 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   13 28 00.2   -08 35 24     3.155    3.150   80.8   17.9   292   13.8 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   13 28 44.2   -08 40 51     3.141    3.151   81.6   18.0   292   13.8 

    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.