(55) Pandora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Mar 2026	12.9	3.158 AU	2.325 AU	13h39m	-11°20'	140.8°	11.4°
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
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   13 39 37.7   -11 20 58     2.325    3.158  140.8   11.4   292   12.9 
2026-03-09 05:48 UT   13 39 30.9   -11 20 48     2.323    3.158  141.1   11.4   292   12.9 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   13 39 08.7   -11 20 14     2.316    3.158  142.0   11.2   292   12.8 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   13 38 38.5   -11 19 23     2.307    3.158  143.1   10.9   293   12.8 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   13 38 07.0   -11 18 25     2.298    3.158  144.2   10.6   293   12.8 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   13 37 34.3   -11 17 21     2.289    3.158  145.3   10.3   293   12.8 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   13 37 00.5   -11 16 10     2.281    3.158  146.5   10.0   293   12.8 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   13 36 25.5   -11 14 53     2.273    3.158  147.6    9.7   293   12.7 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   13 35 49.3   -11 13 29     2.265    3.158  148.7    9.4   293   12.7 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   13 35 12.1   -11 11 59     2.257    3.158  149.9    9.1   293   12.7 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   13 34 33.7   -11 10 23     2.250    3.158  151.0    8.8   294   12.7 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   13 33 54.3   -11 08 41     2.243    3.158  152.2    8.5   294   12.7 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   13 33 13.9   -11 06 52     2.236    3.157  153.3    8.1   294   12.6 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   13 32 32.5   -11 04 58     2.229    3.157  154.5    7.8   294   12.6 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   13 31 50.1   -11 02 58     2.223    3.157  155.7    7.5   294   12.6 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   13 31 06.9   -11 00 52     2.217    3.157  156.8    7.1   295   12.6 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   13 30 22.7   -10 58 41     2.211    3.157  158.0    6.8   295   12.6 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   13 29 37.7   -10 56 24     2.205    3.157  159.2    6.4   295   12.5 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   13 28 52.0   -10 54 03     2.200    3.157  160.3    6.1   296   12.5 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   13 28 05.5   -10 51 36     2.195    3.157  161.5    5.7   296   12.5 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   13 27 18.2   -10 49 05     2.190    3.157  162.7    5.4   297   12.5 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   13 26 30.4   -10 46 29     2.186    3.157  163.9    5.0   297   12.4 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   13 25 41.8   -10 43 48     2.181    3.157  165.1    4.7   298   12.4 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   13 24 52.8   -10 41 03     2.177    3.156  166.2    4.3   298   12.4 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   13 24 03.1   -10 38 14     2.174    3.156  167.4    4.0   299   12.4 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   13 23 13.0   -10 35 21     2.170    3.156  168.6    3.6   300   12.4 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   13 22 22.4   -10 32 24     2.167    3.156  169.8    3.2   302   12.3 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   13 21 31.5   -10 29 24     2.165    3.156  170.9    2.9   303   12.3 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   13 20 40.1   -10 26 21     2.162    3.156  172.1    2.5   305   12.3 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   13 19 48.5   -10 23 14     2.160    3.156  173.3    2.1   308   12.2 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   13 18 56.6   -10 20 05     2.158    3.156  174.4    1.8   311   12.2 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   13 18 04.5   -10 16 53     2.156    3.155  175.5    1.4   317   12.2 

    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.