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On Thursday, October 8, 2026, asteroid 2 Pallas is well placed for an evening search in Cetus. For the reference location used by Astronomy.com’s October 8 observing guide—40° N, 90° W—look around 10 P.M. local daylight time, when Pallas is about 20° above the southwestern horizon. The guide places it roughly 5.4° southeast of Eta Ceti and about 19° below Saturn toward the horizon.
Where to look for Pallas on October 8
Pallas is in central Cetus after its recent opposition. At about 10 P.M. local daylight time for the guide’s reference point, 40° N, 90° W, it is approximately 20° above the southwestern horizon. These directions and times are specific to that location; your local altitude and direction will differ.
- Use Eta Ceti: Pallas is about 5.4° southeast of Eta Ceti.
- Use Saturn: From Saturn, look a little less than 19° down toward the horizon.
Use a current local sky chart or planetarium app to translate those references into your own sky. Astronomy.com’s guide says Pallas is visible all night from its reference location and reaches its highest point around 1 A.M. local daylight time.
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What you may see through binoculars or a telescope
Astronomy.com gives Pallas an apparent magnitude of 8.3, so binoculars or a telescope are suggested to track it. The guide does not test or endorse a particular instrument. Whether binoculars or a telescope is more practical depends on factors such as field of view, light gathering, portability, and what you already have; no specific model is needed for the directions above.
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The guide places Pallas about a quarter degree northeast of a magnitude 8.2 field star. At a glance, the asteroid and star may look like two similar points of light. Their positions change relative to each other: the guide says Pallas closes the gap by a few arcminutes during the night and has swapped sides of the star by the following night.
How to check Pallas’s motion
- Locate the close pair using the current sky chart and the star-field reference for your observing time.
- Take a photo, then take another a few hours later without changing the framing if possible.
- Compare the two images against the background stars. The point that shifts position relative to the field star is Pallas.
This is a simple way to look for the motion described in the observing guide; it is not a guarantee of visibility or a controlled measurement.
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Reference-site daylight and Moon schedule
The following schedule applies only to 40° N, 90° W, the guide’s reference location. It is not a general schedule for other cities.
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| Sunrise | 7:03 A.M. |
| Sunset | 6:31 P.M. |
| Moonrise | 4:53 A.M. |
| Moonset | 5:26 P.M. |
| Moon at 10 P.M. | Waning crescent, 3% illumination |
The event descriptions and values in this guide are from Alison Klesman’s Astronomy.com article published October 8, 2026.
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