(2) Pallas
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Apr 2026	10.2	3.154 AU	3.961 AU	23h47m	+01°34'	32.0°	9.7°
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)                : 211.52976
            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
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   23 47 05.2   +01 34 50     3.961    3.154   32.0    9.7   251   10.2 
2026-04-20 19:58 UT   23 48 09.0   +01 38 03     3.953    3.153   32.5    9.9   251   10.2 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   23 48 21.9   +01 38 41     3.951    3.152   32.7    9.9   251   10.2 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   23 49 38.5   +01 42 31     3.942    3.151   33.3   10.1   251   10.2 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   23 50 55.0   +01 46 19     3.932    3.149   34.0   10.3   250   10.2 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   23 52 11.3   +01 50 05     3.923    3.147   34.6   10.5   250   10.2 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   23 53 27.4   +01 53 49     3.913    3.146   35.3   10.6   250   10.2 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   23 54 43.4   +01 57 31     3.903    3.144   35.9   10.8   250   10.2 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   23 55 59.3   +02 01 11     3.893    3.142   36.6   11.0   250   10.2 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   23 57 15.0   +02 04 49     3.883    3.141   37.2   11.2   249   10.2 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   23 58 30.5   +02 08 24     3.872    3.139   37.9   11.4   249   10.2 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   23 59 45.9   +02 11 57     3.862    3.137   38.5   11.5   249   10.2 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   00 01 01.1   +02 15 28     3.851    3.135   39.2   11.7   249   10.2 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   00 02 16.1   +02 18 56     3.840    3.134   39.8   11.9   249   10.2 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   00 03 31.0   +02 22 21     3.829    3.132   40.5   12.1   249   10.2 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   00 04 45.7   +02 25 44     3.818    3.130   41.2   12.2   249   10.2 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   00 06 00.3   +02 29 05     3.807    3.128   41.8   12.4   248   10.2 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   00 07 14.6   +02 32 22     3.795    3.127   42.5   12.6   248   10.2 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   00 08 28.8   +02 35 37     3.784    3.125   43.1   12.8   248   10.2 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   00 09 42.7   +02 38 48     3.772    3.123   43.8   12.9   248   10.2 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   00 10 56.5   +02 41 57     3.761    3.121   44.5   13.1   248   10.2 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   00 12 10.1   +02 45 03     3.749    3.120   45.1   13.3   248   10.2 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   00 13 23.5   +02 48 05     3.737    3.118   45.8   13.4   248   10.2 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   00 14 36.7   +02 51 04     3.725    3.116   46.5   13.6   248   10.2 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   00 15 49.7   +02 53 60     3.712    3.114   47.1   13.8   248   10.2 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   00 17 02.5   +02 56 52     3.700    3.112   47.8   13.9   248   10.2 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   00 18 15.0   +02 59 40     3.688    3.111   48.5   14.1   247   10.2 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   00 19 27.4   +03 02 25     3.675    3.109   49.1   14.2   247   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.