(56) Melete
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Oct 2026	14.6	3.203 AU	3.461 AU	08h28m	+11°24'	66.9°	16.7°
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
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   08 28 54.9   +11 24 06     3.461    3.203   66.9   16.7   281   14.6 
2026-10-07 01:55 UT   08 28 59.4   +11 23 42     3.460    3.203   66.9   16.7   281   14.6 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   08 29 50.1   +11 19 04     3.448    3.203   67.6   16.8   281   14.6 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   08 30 44.5   +11 14 01     3.435    3.203   68.3   16.8   281   14.6 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   08 31 38.3   +11 08 59     3.422    3.204   69.1   16.9   281   14.6 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   08 32 31.3   +11 03 58     3.408    3.204   69.8   17.0   282   14.6 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   08 33 23.7   +10 58 56     3.395    3.204   70.6   17.1   282   14.6 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   08 34 15.3   +10 53 55     3.381    3.205   71.3   17.2   282   14.6 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   08 35 06.2   +10 48 55     3.368    3.205   72.1   17.2   282   14.6 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   08 35 56.3   +10 43 55     3.354    3.205   72.9   17.3   282   14.6 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   08 36 45.7   +10 38 56     3.341    3.206   73.6   17.4   282   14.6 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   08 37 34.3   +10 33 58     3.327    3.206   74.4   17.4   283   14.6 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   08 38 22.2   +10 29 01     3.313    3.206   75.2   17.5   283   14.6 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   08 39 09.2   +10 24 04     3.299    3.207   75.9   17.5   283   14.6 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   08 39 55.5   +10 19 09     3.285    3.207   76.7   17.6   283   14.5 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   08 40 41.0   +10 14 14     3.272    3.207   77.5   17.6   283   14.5 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   08 41 25.7   +10 09 21     3.258    3.207   78.3   17.7   283   14.5 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   08 42 09.5   +10 04 30     3.244    3.208   79.1   17.7   284   14.5 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   08 42 52.5   +09 59 39     3.229    3.208   79.9   17.8   284   14.5 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   08 43 34.7   +09 54 50     3.215    3.208   80.7   17.8   284   14.5 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   08 44 16.0   +09 50 03     3.201    3.208   81.5   17.8   284   14.5 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   08 44 56.5   +09 45 17     3.187    3.209   82.3   17.9   284   14.5 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   08 45 36.0   +09 40 33     3.173    3.209   83.1   17.9   284   14.5 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   08 46 14.7   +09 35 51     3.159    3.209   83.9   17.9   285   14.5 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   08 46 52.5   +09 31 10     3.144    3.209   84.7   17.9   285   14.5 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   08 47 29.4   +09 26 32     3.130    3.209   85.6   18.0   285   14.5 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   08 48 05.3   +09 21 56     3.116    3.210   86.4   18.0   285   14.4 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   08 48 40.3   +09 17 22     3.101    3.210   87.2   18.0   285   14.4 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   08 49 14.3   +09 12 50     3.087    3.210   88.1   18.0   285   14.4 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   08 49 47.4   +09 08 21     3.072    3.210   88.9   18.0   286   14.4 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   08 50 19.5   +09 03 54     3.058    3.210   89.7   18.0   286   14.4 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   08 50 50.6   +08 59 30     3.044    3.211   90.6   18.0   286   14.4 

    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.