(55) Pandora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Jan 2025	11.8	2.831 AU	1.857 AU	08h40m	+28°43'	169.4°	3.7°
Opposition	24 Jan 2025	11.8	2.834 AU	1.860 AU	08h38m	+28°50'	170.0°	3.5°

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 Pandora are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1450094
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7594682
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.17515
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 10.30602
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 5.16614
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 71.20087
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 15.43192
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.64441
            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. 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
2025-01-22 00:00 UT   08 40 52.6   +28 43 30     1.857    2.831  169.4    3.7   213   11.8 
2025-01-22 05:02 UT   08 40 39.5   +28 44 06     1.857    2.831  169.5    3.6   212   11.8 
2025-01-23 00:00 UT   08 39 50.4   +28 46 18     1.858    2.832  169.8    3.5   206   11.8 
2025-01-24 00:00 UT   08 38 48.0   +28 48 58     1.859    2.833  169.9    3.5   199   11.8 
2025-01-25 00:00 UT   08 37 45.4   +28 51 31     1.860    2.835  170.0    3.5   192   11.8 
2025-01-26 00:00 UT   08 36 42.9   +28 53 57     1.862    2.836  169.9    3.5   185   11.8 
2025-01-27 00:00 UT   08 35 40.3   +28 56 14     1.864    2.838  169.6    3.6   178   11.8 
2025-01-28 00:00 UT   08 34 37.8   +28 58 24     1.866    2.839  169.2    3.7   171   11.8 
2025-01-29 00:00 UT   08 33 35.6   +29 00 26     1.868    2.841  168.7    3.9   165   11.8 
2025-01-30 00:00 UT   08 32 33.5   +29 02 19     1.871    2.842  168.0    4.1   160   11.9 
2025-01-31 00:00 UT   08 31 31.8   +29 04 05     1.874    2.843  167.3    4.4   155   11.9 
2025-02-01 00:00 UT   08 30 30.5   +29 05 41     1.877    2.845  166.5    4.6   151   11.9 
2025-02-02 00:00 UT   08 29 29.7   +29 07 09     1.881    2.846  165.7    4.9   147   11.9 
2025-02-03 00:00 UT   08 28 29.5   +29 08 28     1.885    2.848  164.8    5.2   143   11.9 
2025-02-04 00:00 UT   08 27 29.9   +29 09 39     1.889    2.849  163.8    5.5   140   12.0 
2025-02-05 00:00 UT   08 26 30.9   +29 10 40     1.893    2.851  162.9    5.8   138   12.0 
2025-02-06 00:00 UT   08 25 32.8   +29 11 33     1.898    2.852  161.9    6.2   135   12.0 
2025-02-07 00:00 UT   08 24 35.4   +29 12 17     1.903    2.853  160.9    6.5   133   12.0 
2025-02-08 00:00 UT   08 23 39.0   +29 12 52     1.909    2.855  159.8    6.8   131   12.0 
2025-02-09 00:00 UT   08 22 43.5   +29 13 18     1.914    2.856  158.8    7.2   129   12.1 
2025-02-10 00:00 UT   08 21 49.0   +29 13 36     1.920    2.858  157.7    7.5   128   12.1 
2025-02-11 00:00 UT   08 20 55.5   +29 13 45     1.926    2.859  156.6    7.9   126   12.1 
2025-02-12 00:00 UT   08 20 03.2   +29 13 45     1.932    2.860  155.5    8.2   125   12.1 
2025-02-13 00:00 UT   08 19 12.0   +29 13 37     1.939    2.862  154.5    8.6   124   12.2 
2025-02-14 00:00 UT   08 18 22.0   +29 13 20     1.946    2.863  153.4    8.9   122   12.2 
2025-02-15 00:00 UT   08 17 33.3   +29 12 55     1.953    2.865  152.3    9.2   121   12.2 
2025-02-16 00:00 UT   08 16 45.8   +29 12 22     1.961    2.866  151.2    9.6   120   12.2 
2025-02-17 00:00 UT   08 15 59.7   +29 11 40     1.968    2.867  150.1    9.9   119   12.3 
2025-02-18 00:00 UT   08 15 14.9   +29 10 51     1.976    2.869  149.0   10.2   118   12.3 
2025-02-19 00:00 UT   08 14 31.6   +29 09 54     1.984    2.870  147.9   10.5   118   12.3 
2025-02-20 00:00 UT   08 13 49.7   +29 08 49     1.993    2.872  146.8   10.9   117   12.3 
2025-02-21 00:00 UT   08 13 09.2   +29 07 36     2.001    2.873  145.7   11.2   116   12.3 

    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.