(49) Pales
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Apr 2026	13.0	2.502 AU	3.491 AU	00h12m	+03°46'	6.9°	2.8°
Opposition	4 Dec 2026	11.0	2.488 AU	1.503 AU	04h41m	+25°07'	177.1°	1.1°

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 Pales are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2214743
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0980625
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.20165
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 284.98696
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.45244
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 312.95967
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 218.47209
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.93692
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.45            
        

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
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   00 12 27.4   +03 46 57     3.491    2.502    6.9    2.8   265   13.0 
2026-04-01 09:57 UT   00 13 10.8   +03 51 43     3.490    2.501    7.1    2.8   265   13.0 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   00 14 12.1   +03 58 27     3.488    2.500    7.4    3.0   264   13.0 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   00 15 56.9   +04 09 57     3.485    2.499    7.9    3.1   263   13.0 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   00 17 41.8   +04 21 27     3.483    2.498    8.4    3.3   262   13.0 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   00 19 26.7   +04 32 57     3.480    2.496    8.9    3.5   261   13.0 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   00 21 11.7   +04 44 26     3.477    2.495    9.4    3.7   260   13.0 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   00 22 56.8   +04 55 56     3.474    2.494    9.9    3.9   260   13.0 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   00 24 41.9   +05 07 25     3.471    2.493   10.4    4.1   259   13.0 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   00 26 27.1   +05 18 54     3.468    2.491   10.9    4.3   259   13.1 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   00 28 12.4   +05 30 22     3.464    2.490   11.3    4.5   258   13.1 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   00 29 57.7   +05 41 50     3.461    2.489   11.8    4.7   258   13.1 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   00 31 43.1   +05 53 17     3.458    2.488   12.3    4.9   257   13.1 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   00 33 28.5   +06 04 44     3.454    2.486   12.8    5.1   257   13.1 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   00 35 14.0   +06 16 10     3.450    2.485   13.3    5.3   256   13.1 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   00 36 59.6   +06 27 36     3.446    2.484   13.8    5.5   256   13.1 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   00 38 45.2   +06 39 01     3.443    2.483   14.3    5.7   256   13.1 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   00 40 30.9   +06 50 25     3.439    2.482   14.8    5.9   256   13.1 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   00 42 16.7   +07 01 48     3.435    2.480   15.3    6.1   255   13.1 

    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.