(56) Melete
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Apr 2024	11.6	2.234 AU	1.294 AU	16h12m	-12°11'	152.2°	12.1°
Opposition	19 May 2024	11.0	2.182 AU	1.180 AU	15h56m	-09°22'	169.2°	5.0°

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)                : 0.2372321
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5974798
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.08144
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 192.94022
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 104.89758
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 310.75045
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 117.98049
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 7.80807
            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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   16 12 14.1   -12 11 03     1.294    2.234  152.2   12.1   263   11.6 
2024-04-27 00:39 UT   16 12 13.3   -12 10 51     1.294    2.234  152.2   12.1   263   11.6 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   16 11 46.5   -12 03 37     1.287    2.232  153.2   11.7   262   11.6 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   16 11 17.2   -11 56 07     1.279    2.229  154.2   11.3   261   11.5 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   16 10 46.4   -11 48 35     1.272    2.227  155.2   10.9   260   11.5 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   16 10 14.1   -11 41 01     1.265    2.225  156.2   10.5   259   11.5 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   16 09 40.3   -11 33 24     1.259    2.222  157.2   10.1   258   11.5 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   16 09 05.0   -11 25 47     1.252    2.220  158.2    9.7   256   11.4 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   16 08 28.3   -11 18 08     1.246    2.218  159.2    9.3   255   11.4 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   16 07 50.2   -11 10 28     1.240    2.215  160.2    8.9   253   11.4 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   16 07 10.8   -11 02 48     1.234    2.213  161.1    8.5   251   11.3 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   16 06 30.2   -10 55 08     1.229    2.211  162.0    8.1   249   11.3 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   16 05 48.3   -10 47 29     1.224    2.208  162.9    7.7   247   11.3 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   16 05 05.3   -10 39 50     1.219    2.206  163.8    7.3   244   11.3 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   16 04 21.3   -10 32 13     1.214    2.204  164.7    7.0   241   11.2 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   16 03 36.2   -10 24 38     1.209    2.201  165.5    6.6   238   11.2 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   16 02 50.2   -10 17 06     1.205    2.199  166.2    6.3   234   11.2 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   16 02 03.4   -10 09 36     1.201    2.197  166.9    6.0   230   11.1 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   16 01 15.8   -10 02 09     1.197    2.195  167.5    5.7   225   11.1 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   16 00 27.4   -09 54 46     1.193    2.192  168.1    5.5   221   11.1 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   15 59 38.4   -09 47 27     1.190    2.190  168.5    5.3   215   11.1 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   15 58 48.9   -09 40 13     1.187    2.188  168.9    5.1   209   11.1 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   15 57 58.8   -09 33 04     1.184    2.186  169.1    5.0   203   11.1 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   15 57 08.4   -09 26 01     1.181    2.183  169.2    5.0   197   11.0 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   15 56 17.6   -09 19 03     1.179    2.181  169.2    5.0   191   11.0 
2024-05-21 00:00 UT   15 55 26.5   -09 12 12     1.177    2.179  169.0    5.1   185   11.0 
2024-05-22 00:00 UT   15 54 35.3   -09 05 27     1.175    2.177  168.7    5.2   179   11.0 
2024-05-23 00:00 UT   15 53 43.9   -08 58 50     1.173    2.175  168.3    5.4   173   11.0 
2024-05-24 00:00 UT   15 52 52.6   -08 52 20     1.172    2.172  167.8    5.6   168   11.1 
2024-05-25 00:00 UT   15 52 01.3   -08 45 59     1.171    2.170  167.2    5.9   163   11.1 
2024-05-26 00:00 UT   15 51 10.1   -08 39 45     1.170    2.168  166.6    6.2   159   11.1 
2024-05-27 00:00 UT   15 50 19.1   -08 33 41     1.169    2.166  165.9    6.6   155   11.1 

    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.