(18) Melpomene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Feb 2026	11.6	2.530 AU	2.855 AU	18h00m	-14°35'	61.1°	20.0°
Opposition	8 Jul 2026	8.9	2.209 AU	1.206 AU	19h04m	-09°27'	166.9°	6.0°

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 Melpomene are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2179620
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2955570
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.13086
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 150.32896
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 228.05174
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 227.26385
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 197.93272
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -7.51716
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.48            
        

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
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   18 00 54.1   -14 35 33     2.855    2.530   61.1   20.0   275   11.6 
2026-02-20 16:24 UT   18 01 57.9   -14 34 20     2.845    2.529   61.6   20.1   275   11.6 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   18 02 27.3   -14 33 45     2.841    2.528   61.8   20.2   275   11.6 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   18 04 00.1   -14 31 52     2.828    2.526   62.4   20.3   274   11.6 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   18 05 32.5   -14 29 55     2.814    2.524   63.0   20.4   274   11.6 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   18 07 04.5   -14 27 53     2.801    2.522   63.6   20.6   274   11.6 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   18 08 36.0   -14 25 46     2.787    2.520   64.3   20.7   274   11.6 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   18 10 07.1   -14 23 35     2.774    2.518   64.9   20.9   273   11.6 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   18 11 37.7   -14 21 19     2.760    2.516   65.5   21.0   273   11.6 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   18 13 07.9   -14 18 58     2.746    2.514   66.1   21.1   273   11.6 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   18 14 37.7   -14 16 34     2.732    2.512   66.8   21.2   272   11.6 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   18 16 06.9   -14 14 04     2.718    2.510   67.4   21.4   272   11.6 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   18 17 35.7   -14 11 31     2.704    2.508   68.0   21.5   272   11.6 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   18 19 04.0   -14 08 53     2.690    2.506   68.7   21.6   272   11.5 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   18 20 31.8   -14 06 11     2.676    2.504   69.3   21.7   271   11.5 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   18 21 59.1   -14 03 24     2.662    2.502   69.9   21.9   271   11.5 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   18 23 25.9   -14 00 34     2.648    2.500   70.6   22.0   271   11.5 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   18 24 52.1   -13 57 39     2.634    2.498   71.2   22.1   271   11.5 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   18 26 17.8   -13 54 40     2.620    2.496   71.8   22.2   270   11.5 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   18 27 43.0   -13 51 38     2.606    2.494   72.5   22.3   270   11.5 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   18 29 07.6   -13 48 31     2.591    2.491   73.1   22.4   270   11.5 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   18 30 31.6   -13 45 20     2.577    2.489   73.8   22.5   270   11.5 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   18 31 55.1   -13 42 06     2.563    2.487   74.4   22.6   269   11.5 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   18 33 17.9   -13 38 48     2.548    2.485   75.1   22.7   269   11.4 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   18 34 40.1   -13 35 26     2.534    2.483   75.7   22.8   269   11.4 

    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.