(56) Melete
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Jul 2026	14.5	3.154 AU	4.116 AU	06h53m	+16°41'	16.3°	5.2°
Opposition	27 Jan 2027	13.1	3.200 AU	2.227 AU	08h26m	+08°13'	169.4°	3.3°

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 Melete are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2368788
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5969366
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.08103
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 192.93180
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 104.91603
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 92.04587
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 117.99066
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 7.80700
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.18            
        

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
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   06 53 02.5   +16 41 35     4.116    3.154   16.3    5.2   254   14.5 
2026-07-21 12:39 UT   06 53 47.7   +16 40 20     4.114    3.154   16.6    5.3   254   14.5 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   06 54 28.2   +16 39 12     4.113    3.155   16.9    5.4   255   14.5 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   06 55 53.8   +16 36 46     4.110    3.155   17.5    5.5   255   14.5 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   06 57 19.1   +16 34 17     4.106    3.156   18.0    5.7   256   14.5 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   06 58 44.3   +16 31 44     4.103    3.157   18.6    5.9   257   14.5 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   07 00 09.2   +16 29 08     4.099    3.158   19.2    6.1   258   14.5 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   07 01 34.0   +16 26 28     4.096    3.159   19.8    6.2   258   14.6 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   07 02 58.5   +16 23 45     4.092    3.160   20.4    6.4   259   14.6 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   07 04 22.9   +16 20 59     4.088    3.160   20.9    6.6   260   14.6 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   07 05 47.0   +16 18 09     4.084    3.161   21.5    6.8   260   14.6 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   07 07 10.9   +16 15 16     4.079    3.162   22.1    6.9   261   14.6 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   07 08 34.6   +16 12 20     4.075    3.163   22.7    7.1   262   14.6 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   07 09 58.1   +16 09 21     4.070    3.164   23.3    7.3   262   14.6 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   07 11 21.3   +16 06 18     4.065    3.165   23.9    7.5   263   14.6 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   07 12 44.3   +16 03 12     4.061    3.165   24.5    7.6   263   14.6 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   07 14 07.1   +16 00 03     4.055    3.166   25.1    7.8   264   14.6 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   07 15 29.6   +15 56 51     4.050    3.167   25.7    8.0   264   14.6 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   07 16 51.9   +15 53 36     4.045    3.168   26.3    8.2   265   14.6 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   07 18 13.9   +15 50 18     4.039    3.168   26.9    8.3   265   14.6 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   07 19 35.7   +15 46 56     4.034    3.169   27.5    8.5   266   14.6 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   07 20 57.2   +15 43 32     4.028    3.170   28.1    8.7   266   14.6 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   07 22 18.5   +15 40 05     4.022    3.171   28.7    8.8   266   14.6 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   07 23 39.4   +15 36 34     4.016    3.172   29.4    9.0   267   14.6 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   07 25 00.1   +15 33 01     4.009    3.172   30.0    9.2   267   14.6 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   07 26 20.5   +15 29 25     4.003    3.173   30.6    9.4   268   14.6 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   07 27 40.6   +15 25 46     3.996    3.174   31.2    9.5   268   14.7 

    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.