(18) Melpomene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	29 May 2026	10.0	2.310 AU	1.499 AU	19h31m	-08°37'	132.7°	18.8°
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
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   19 31 09.2   -08 37 10     1.499    2.310  132.7   18.8   249   10.0 
2026-05-29 18:29 UT   19 31 03.4   -08 35 31     1.491    2.308  133.5   18.6   248   10.0 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   19 31 01.4   -08 35 02     1.488    2.308  133.7   18.5   248   10.0 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   19 30 51.8   -08 33 02     1.477    2.305  134.6   18.2   248   10.0 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   19 30 40.4   -08 31 10     1.467    2.303  135.5   18.0   247    9.9 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   19 30 27.3   -08 29 27     1.456    2.300  136.5   17.7   247    9.9 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   19 30 12.3   -08 27 52     1.446    2.298  137.4   17.4   246    9.9 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   19 29 55.6   -08 26 26     1.436    2.295  138.4   17.1   246    9.8 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   19 29 37.1   -08 25 09     1.426    2.293  139.3   16.8   245    9.8 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   19 29 16.8   -08 24 02     1.416    2.290  140.3   16.4   245    9.8 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   19 28 54.7   -08 23 04     1.406    2.288  141.3   16.1   244    9.8 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   19 28 30.9   -08 22 16     1.397    2.285  142.2   15.8   243    9.7 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   19 28 05.3   -08 21 38     1.387    2.283  143.2   15.4   243    9.7 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   19 27 37.9   -08 21 09     1.378    2.280  144.2   15.1   242    9.7 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   19 27 08.7   -08 20 52     1.369    2.278  145.2   14.7   241    9.6 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   19 26 37.9   -08 20 45     1.361    2.275  146.2   14.4   240    9.6 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   19 26 05.3   -08 20 48     1.352    2.273  147.1   14.0   240    9.6 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   19 25 31.0   -08 21 03     1.344    2.270  148.1   13.7   239    9.6 
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   19 24 55.1   -08 21 29     1.336    2.268  149.1   13.3   238    9.5 
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   19 24 17.5   -08 22 06     1.328    2.265  150.1   12.9   237    9.5 
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   19 23 38.3   -08 22 55     1.320    2.263  151.1   12.5   236    9.5 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   19 22 57.6   -08 23 55     1.312    2.260  152.1   12.2   235    9.4 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   19 22 15.3   -08 25 07     1.305    2.258  153.0   11.8   234    9.4 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   19 21 31.5   -08 26 30     1.298    2.255  154.0   11.4   232    9.4 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   19 20 46.3   -08 28 05     1.291    2.253  155.0   11.0   231    9.4 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   19 19 59.7   -08 29 52     1.284    2.250  155.9   10.6   229    9.3 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   19 19 11.8   -08 31 51     1.278    2.248  156.9   10.2   228    9.3 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   19 18 22.6   -08 34 02     1.271    2.245  157.8    9.8   226    9.3 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   19 17 32.1   -08 36 25     1.265    2.243  158.7    9.5   224    9.2 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   19 16 40.4   -08 38 60     1.259    2.240  159.6    9.1   222    9.2 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   19 15 47.5   -08 41 47     1.254    2.238  160.5    8.7   220    9.2 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   19 14 53.6   -08 44 45     1.248    2.235  161.3    8.4   217    9.2 

    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.