(2) Pallas
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Mar 2026	10.1	3.202 AU	4.164 AU	23h07m	-00°28'	13.1°	4.0°
Opposition	6 Oct 2026	8.2	2.807 AU	1.851 AU	01h22m	-14°00'	159.0°	7.3°

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 Pallas are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2306430
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7699258
            i (Inclination)                 : 34.92833
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 172.88859
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.93340
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 211.52977
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 129.49720
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -25.62926
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.61            
        

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
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   23 07 53.6   +00 28 22     4.164    3.202   13.1    4.0   268   10.1 
2026-03-21 17:11 UT   23 08 50.6   +00 25 23     4.161    3.201   13.5    4.2   267   10.1 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   23 09 13.2   +00 24 12     4.160    3.200   13.6    4.2   267   10.1 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   23 10 32.7   +00 20 01     4.155    3.199   14.2    4.4   265   10.1 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   23 11 52.1   +00 15 50     4.151    3.197   14.9    4.6   264   10.1 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   23 13 11.5   +00 11 39     4.146    3.196   15.5    4.8   263   10.1 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   23 14 30.8   +00 07 28     4.141    3.194   16.1    5.0   262   10.1 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   23 15 50.0   +00 03 17     4.136    3.193   16.7    5.2   262   10.1 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   23 17 09.2   +00 00 55     4.130    3.191   17.3    5.3   261   10.1 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   23 18 28.3   +00 05 06     4.125    3.190   17.9    5.5   260   10.2 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   23 19 47.3   +00 09 17     4.119    3.188   18.6    5.7   259   10.2 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   23 21 06.2   +00 13 28     4.113    3.186   19.2    5.9   259   10.2 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   23 22 25.1   +00 17 39     4.107    3.185   19.8    6.1   258   10.2 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   23 23 43.8   +00 21 49     4.101    3.183   20.5    6.3   257   10.2 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   23 25 02.5   +00 25 59     4.094    3.182   21.1    6.5   257   10.2 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   23 26 21.1   +00 30 09     4.088    3.180   21.7    6.7   256   10.2 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   23 27 39.6   +00 34 18     4.081    3.179   22.4    6.9   256   10.2 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   23 28 58.0   +00 38 27     4.074    3.177   23.0    7.1   255   10.2 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   23 30 16.4   +00 42 35     4.067    3.175   23.6    7.3   255   10.2 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   23 31 34.6   +00 46 42     4.060    3.174   24.3    7.4   255   10.2 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   23 32 52.8   +00 50 49     4.052    3.172   24.9    7.6   254   10.2 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   23 34 10.8   +00 54 54     4.045    3.171   25.5    7.8   254   10.2 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   23 35 28.8   +00 58 59     4.037    3.169   26.2    8.0   253   10.2 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   23 36 46.6   +01 03 03     4.029    3.167   26.8    8.2   253   10.2 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   23 38 04.3   +01 07 06     4.021    3.166   27.5    8.4   253   10.2 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   23 39 22.0   +01 11 08     4.013    3.164   28.1    8.6   253   10.2 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   23 40 39.5   +01 15 08     4.005    3.162   28.8    8.8   252   10.2 

    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.