(56) Melete
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Sep 2026	14.7	3.185 AU	3.863 AU	07h49m	+14°17'	42.0°	12.2°
Opposition	27 Jan 2027	13.1	3.201 AU	2.228 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)                : 0.2365050
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5980847
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.07921
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 192.90414
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 105.03033
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 139.05337
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 118.07823
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 7.80106
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.19            
        

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
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   07 49 33.4   +14 17 14     3.863    3.185   42.0   12.2   273   14.7 
2026-09-01 19:09 UT   07 50 32.4   +14 13 44     3.856    3.186   42.5   12.4   273   14.7 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   07 50 47.3   +14 12 51     3.854    3.186   42.6   12.4   273   14.7 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   07 52 00.9   +14 08 25     3.845    3.186   43.3   12.5   274   14.7 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   07 53 14.0   +14 03 58     3.835    3.187   43.9   12.7   274   14.7 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   07 54 26.7   +13 59 29     3.826    3.188   44.6   12.8   274   14.7 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   07 55 39.0   +13 54 58     3.816    3.188   45.3   13.0   274   14.7 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   07 56 50.9   +13 50 25     3.806    3.189   45.9   13.1   275   14.7 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   07 58 02.4   +13 45 50     3.797    3.189   46.6   13.3   275   14.7 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   07 59 13.4   +13 41 14     3.787    3.190   47.3   13.4   275   14.7 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   08 00 23.9   +13 36 36     3.776    3.190   47.9   13.6   275   14.7 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   08 01 34.1   +13 31 56     3.766    3.191   48.6   13.7   276   14.7 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   08 02 43.7   +13 27 14     3.756    3.191   49.3   13.8   276   14.7 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   08 03 52.9   +13 22 31     3.745    3.192   49.9   14.0   276   14.7 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   08 05 01.6   +13 17 46     3.735    3.192   50.6   14.1   276   14.7 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   08 06 09.9   +13 13 00     3.724    3.193   51.3   14.2   277   14.7 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   08 07 17.6   +13 08 13     3.713    3.194   52.0   14.4   277   14.7 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   08 08 24.9   +13 03 24     3.702    3.194   52.7   14.5   277   14.7 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   08 09 31.6   +12 58 35     3.691    3.195   53.3   14.6   277   14.7 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   08 10 37.9   +12 53 44     3.680    3.195   54.0   14.7   277   14.7 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   08 11 43.6   +12 48 51     3.669    3.195   54.7   14.9   278   14.7 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   08 12 48.8   +12 43 58     3.657    3.196   55.4   15.0   278   14.7 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   08 13 53.5   +12 39 04     3.646    3.196   56.1   15.1   278   14.7 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   08 14 57.6   +12 34 08     3.634    3.197   56.8   15.2   278   14.7 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   08 16 01.2   +12 29 12     3.622    3.197   57.5   15.3   278   14.7 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   08 17 04.2   +12 24 15     3.611    3.198   58.2   15.5   279   14.7 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   08 18 06.7   +12 19 17     3.599    3.198   58.9   15.6   279   14.7 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   08 19 08.6   +12 14 19     3.587    3.199   59.6   15.7   279   14.7 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   08 20 10.0   +12 09 19     3.574    3.199   60.3   15.8   279   14.7 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   08 21 10.7   +12 04 19     3.562    3.200   61.0   15.9   279   14.7 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   08 22 10.9   +11 59 19     3.550    3.200   61.8   16.0   280   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.