(49) Pales
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	8 Jun 2025	13.2	3.095 AU	2.390 AU	20h54m	-16°37'	125.8°	15.4°
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
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   20 54 09.2   -16 37 59     2.390    3.095  125.8   15.4   254   13.2 
2025-06-08 06:04 UT   20 54 08.8   -16 37 45     2.386    3.094  126.1   15.4   254   13.2 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   20 54 07.1   -16 37 06     2.376    3.093  126.8   15.2   254   13.2 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   20 54 03.7   -16 36 18     2.363    3.091  127.7   15.1   253   13.2 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   20 53 59.0   -16 35 35     2.350    3.088  128.7   14.9   253   13.1 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   20 53 53.0   -16 34 56     2.337    3.086  129.7   14.7   253   13.1 
2025-06-13 00:00 UT   20 53 45.6   -16 34 23     2.325    3.084  130.7   14.5   253   13.1 
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   20 53 37.0   -16 33 54     2.312    3.082  131.7   14.3   253   13.1 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   20 53 27.0   -16 33 31     2.300    3.080  132.6   14.0   253   13.1 
2025-06-16 00:00 UT   20 53 15.6   -16 33 12     2.288    3.078  133.6   13.8   253   13.0 
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   20 53 03.0   -16 32 59     2.275    3.075  134.6   13.6   253   13.0 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   20 52 49.0   -16 32 50     2.264    3.073  135.6   13.4   253   13.0 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   20 52 33.7   -16 32 47     2.252    3.071  136.7   13.1   253   13.0 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   20 52 17.1   -16 32 48     2.240    3.069  137.7   12.9   253   13.0 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   20 51 59.1   -16 32 54     2.229    3.067  138.7   12.6   253   12.9 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   20 51 39.8   -16 33 06     2.218    3.064  139.7   12.4   253   12.9 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   20 51 19.2   -16 33 22     2.207    3.062  140.8   12.1   253   12.9 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   20 50 57.3   -16 33 43     2.196    3.060  141.8   11.9   253   12.9 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   20 50 34.1   -16 34 09     2.186    3.058  142.8   11.6   253   12.8 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   20 50 09.6   -16 34 39     2.175    3.056  143.9   11.3   253   12.8 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   20 49 43.9   -16 35 14     2.165    3.054  145.0   11.0   253   12.8 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   20 49 16.9   -16 35 54     2.155    3.051  146.0   10.7   253   12.8 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   20 48 48.6   -16 36 39     2.145    3.049  147.1   10.4   253   12.8 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   20 48 19.1   -16 37 28     2.136    3.047  148.1   10.1   253   12.7 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   20 47 48.5   -16 38 21     2.127    3.045  149.2    9.8   253   12.7 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   20 47 16.7   -16 39 18     2.117    3.043  150.3    9.5   253   12.7 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   20 46 43.7   -16 40 20     2.109    3.040  151.4    9.2   252   12.7 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   20 46 09.5   -16 41 26     2.100    3.038  152.5    8.9   252   12.6 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   20 45 34.3   -16 42 36     2.092    3.036  153.6    8.6   252   12.6 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   20 44 58.0   -16 43 49     2.084    3.034  154.7    8.2   252   12.6 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   20 44 20.6   -16 45 06     2.076    3.032  155.8    7.9   252   12.6 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   20 43 42.2   -16 46 27     2.068    3.029  156.9    7.6   252   12.5 

    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.