(55) Pandora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Apr 2026	12.2	3.156 AU	2.158 AU	13h18m	-10°20'	174.4°	1.8°
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) : 10.28385
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 4.93255
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 157.53435
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 15.17795
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.61545
            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
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   13 18 56.6   -10 20 05     2.158    3.156  174.4    1.8   311   12.2 
2026-04-07 23:01 UT   13 18 06.7   -10 17 00     2.157    3.155  175.5    1.4   317   12.2 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   13 18 04.5   -10 16 53     2.156    3.155  175.5    1.4   317   12.2 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   13 17 12.3   -10 13 38     2.155    3.155  176.5    1.1   326   12.2 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   13 16 19.9   -10 10 21     2.154    3.155  177.4    0.8   341   12.1 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   13 15 27.5   -10 07 03     2.153    3.155  178.0    0.6     9   12.1 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   13 14 35.1   -10 03 43     2.153    3.155  177.9    0.7    42   12.1 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   13 13 42.7   -10 00 21     2.153    3.155  177.2    0.9    66   12.1 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   13 12 50.4   -09 56 58     2.153    3.155  176.3    1.2    79   12.2 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   13 11 58.3   -09 53 35     2.154    3.154  175.2    1.5    86   12.2 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   13 11 06.3   -09 50 11     2.154    3.154  174.1    1.9    91   12.2 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   13 10 14.6   -09 46 46     2.156    3.154  172.9    2.2    95   12.2 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   13 09 23.2   -09 43 22     2.157    3.154  171.8    2.6    97   12.3 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   13 08 32.2   -09 39 58     2.159    3.154  170.6    3.0    99   12.3 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   13 07 41.5   -09 36 34     2.161    3.153  169.5    3.3   100   12.3 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   13 06 51.3   -09 33 12     2.163    3.153  168.3    3.7   101   12.3 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   13 06 01.7   -09 29 50     2.165    3.153  167.1    4.1   102   12.4 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   13 05 12.5   -09 26 30     2.168    3.153  166.0    4.4   103   12.4 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   13 04 24.0   -09 23 12     2.171    3.153  164.8    4.8   104   12.4 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   13 03 36.0   -09 19 56     2.175    3.152  163.6    5.2   104   12.4 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   13 02 48.8   -09 16 41     2.178    3.152  162.4    5.5   105   12.5 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   13 02 02.3   -09 13 30     2.182    3.152  161.3    5.9   105   12.5 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   13 01 16.5   -09 10 21     2.186    3.152  160.1    6.2   106   12.5 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   13 00 31.5   -09 07 14     2.191    3.152  159.0    6.6   106   12.5 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   12 59 47.3   -09 04 11     2.196    3.151  157.8    6.9   107   12.5 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   12 59 04.0   -09 01 12     2.201    3.151  156.7    7.3   107   12.6 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   12 58 21.5   -08 58 15     2.206    3.151  155.5    7.6   107   12.6 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   12 57 40.0   -08 55 23     2.211    3.151  154.4    8.0   107   12.6 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   12 56 59.4   -08 52 34     2.217    3.150  153.2    8.3   108   12.6 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   12 56 19.8   -08 49 50     2.223    3.150  152.1    8.6   108   12.6 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   12 55 41.2   -08 47 10     2.230    3.150  151.0    8.9   108   12.7 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   12 55 03.7   -08 44 34     2.236    3.149  149.9    9.3   108   12.7 

    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.