(679) Pax
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Mar 2026	14.3	3.300 AU	2.418 AU	12h55m	+28°23'	147.5°	9.3°
Opposition	18 Mar 2026	14.3	3.307 AU	2.418 AU	12h50m	+29°19'	148.4°	9.1°

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 Pax are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3102330
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5855423
            i (Inclination)                 : 24.41752
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 112.07485
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.01690
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 118.48286
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 198.79933
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -24.38228
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.16            
        

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
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   12 55 18.2   +28 23 26     2.418    3.300  147.5    9.3   224   14.3 
2026-03-12 00:16 UT   12 55 17.7   +28 23 33     2.418    3.300  147.5    9.3   224   14.3 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   12 54 32.0   +28 32 31     2.418    3.301  147.7    9.3   222   14.3 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   12 53 44.9   +28 41 26     2.417    3.302  147.9    9.2   220   14.3 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   12 52 57.0   +28 50 09     2.417    3.303  148.1    9.2   217   14.3 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   12 52 08.4   +28 58 41     2.417    3.304  148.2    9.1   215   14.3 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   12 51 19.1   +29 07 01     2.417    3.305  148.3    9.1   213   14.3 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   12 50 29.1   +29 15 09     2.418    3.307  148.3    9.1   210   14.3 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   12 49 38.5   +29 23 04     2.419    3.308  148.4    9.1   208   14.3 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   12 48 47.3   +29 30 45     2.420    3.309  148.3    9.1   206   14.3 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   12 47 55.7   +29 38 14     2.421    3.310  148.2    9.1   203   14.3 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   12 47 03.6   +29 45 28     2.423    3.311  148.1    9.1   201   14.3 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   12 46 11.0   +29 52 28     2.425    3.312  148.0    9.2   199   14.3 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   12 45 18.2   +29 59 14     2.427    3.313  147.8    9.2   196   14.3 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   12 44 25.1   +30 05 45     2.430    3.314  147.5    9.3   194   14.3 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   12 43 31.7   +30 12 00     2.432    3.315  147.3    9.4   192   14.3 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   12 42 38.1   +30 18 01     2.435    3.316  147.0    9.4   190   14.3 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   12 41 44.4   +30 23 46     2.438    3.318  146.6    9.5   187   14.3 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   12 40 50.6   +30 29 15     2.442    3.319  146.2    9.6   185   14.3 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   12 39 56.8   +30 34 29     2.446    3.320  145.8    9.7   183   14.3 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   12 39 03.1   +30 39 26     2.450    3.321  145.4    9.8   181   14.3 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   12 38 09.4   +30 44 08     2.454    3.322  144.9    9.9   179   14.3 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   12 37 15.8   +30 48 33     2.458    3.323  144.5   10.1   177   14.4 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   12 36 22.4   +30 52 42     2.463    3.324  143.9   10.2   175   14.4 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   12 35 29.2   +30 56 35     2.468    3.325  143.4   10.3   173   14.4 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   12 34 36.3   +31 00 11     2.473    3.326  142.8   10.5   172   14.4 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   12 33 43.7   +31 03 31     2.479    3.327  142.2   10.6   170   14.4 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   12 32 51.5   +31 06 34     2.484    3.328  141.6   10.8   168   14.4 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   12 31 59.7   +31 09 20     2.490    3.329  141.0   10.9   167   14.4 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   12 31 08.3   +31 11 50     2.496    3.330  140.4   11.1   165   14.4 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   12 30 17.5   +31 14 04     2.503    3.331  139.7   11.2   163   14.4 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   12 29 27.2   +31 16 01     2.509    3.332  139.0   11.4   162   14.5 

    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.