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Asteroid

Pallas

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2 Pallas (A802 FA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.787 AU
True anomaly
255.12°
Distance from Earth
1.853 AU
As of
15 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth Pallas — 2.787 AU from the Sun Pallas
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Pallas is 1.853 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 13m 20s
Declination
-16° 26′ 29″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
1.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
154.56° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
2.77 AU
Eccentricity
0.2307
Inclination
34.93°
Orbital period
4.61 years
Perihelion
2.131 AU
Aphelion
3.408 AU
Longitude of ascending node
172.89°
Argument of periapsis
310.97°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 477.4 LD
1.2268 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.043

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
9,772
Data arc
221.3 years
First observed
27 August 1804
Last observed
14 December 2025
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
257 km
Density
2.89 g/cm³
Rotation period
7.81 hours
GM
13.63 km³/s²
Shape · km
568x532x448

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.155
Absolute magnitude (H)
4.12
Colour index (B–V)
0.64
Spectral type (SMASS)
B
Spectral type (Tholen)
B
Colour index (U–B)
0.28

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Olbers, H. W.
Discovery date
28 March 1802
Discovery site
Bremen

Also known as 2 · A802 FA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2081-08-13 10:58:00 Juptr 1.8513 AU 720.5 LD 9 km/s
2164-08-25 07:54:00 Juptr 1.8581 AU 723.1 LD 9 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources