(49) Pales
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 May 2025	13.7	3.159 AU	2.837 AU	20h45m	-17°38'	99.2°	18.4°
Opposition	27 Jul 2025	12.0	2.986 AU	1.971 AU	20h28m	-17°21'	178.1°	0.6°

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)                : 0.2215719
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0986763
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.20160
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 284.98710
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.41382
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 276.86252
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 218.43357
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.93773
            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. 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
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   20 45 41.2   -17 38 32     2.837    3.159   99.2   18.4   255   13.7 
2025-05-09 07:52 UT   20 45 52.2   -17 37 34     2.831    3.159   99.5   18.4   255   13.7 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   20 46 14.4   -17 35 37     2.821    3.157  100.0   18.4   255   13.7 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   20 46 46.6   -17 32 44     2.805    3.155  100.9   18.3   255   13.7 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   20 47 17.7   -17 29 55     2.789    3.153  101.7   18.3   255   13.7 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   20 47 47.9   -17 27 09     2.773    3.151  102.5   18.2   254   13.7 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   20 48 17.0   -17 24 26     2.758    3.149  103.4   18.2   254   13.6 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   20 48 45.0   -17 21 46     2.742    3.147  104.2   18.1   254   13.6 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   20 49 12.0   -17 19 10     2.726    3.144  105.1   18.1   254   13.6 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   20 49 37.9   -17 16 38     2.711    3.142  105.9   18.0   254   13.6 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   20 50 02.6   -17 14 09     2.695    3.140  106.8   18.0   254   13.6 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   20 50 26.3   -17 11 43     2.680    3.138  107.6   17.9   254   13.6 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   20 50 48.9   -17 09 22     2.664    3.136  108.5   17.8   254   13.5 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   20 51 10.3   -17 07 04     2.649    3.134  109.4   17.7   254   13.5 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   20 51 30.6   -17 04 50     2.634    3.132  110.2   17.7   254   13.5 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   20 51 49.7   -17 02 40     2.619    3.129  111.1   17.6   254   13.5 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   20 52 07.7   -17 00 34     2.604    3.127  112.0   17.5   254   13.5 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   20 52 24.4   -16 58 33     2.589    3.125  112.9   17.4   254   13.5 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   20 52 40.0   -16 56 35     2.574    3.123  113.8   17.3   254   13.4 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   20 52 54.4   -16 54 42     2.559    3.121  114.7   17.2   254   13.4 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   20 53 07.5   -16 52 54     2.544    3.119  115.6   17.0   254   13.4 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   20 53 19.4   -16 51 09     2.530    3.117  116.5   16.9   254   13.4 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   20 53 30.0   -16 49 29     2.515    3.114  117.4   16.8   254   13.4 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   20 53 39.5   -16 47 54     2.501    3.112  118.3   16.7   254   13.4 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   20 53 47.6   -16 46 23     2.486    3.110  119.2   16.5   254   13.3 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   20 53 54.5   -16 44 57     2.472    3.108  120.2   16.4   254   13.3 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   20 54 00.2   -16 43 36     2.458    3.106  121.1   16.2   254   13.3 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   20 54 04.5   -16 42 19     2.444    3.104  122.0   16.1   254   13.3 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   20 54 07.6   -16 41 07     2.430    3.101  123.0   15.9   254   13.3 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   20 54 09.4   -16 39 59     2.417    3.099  123.9   15.8   254   13.2 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   20 54 09.9   -16 38 57     2.403    3.097  124.9   15.6   254   13.2 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   20 54 09.2   -16 37 59     2.390    3.095  125.8   15.4   254   13.2 

    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.