(18) Melpomene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Nov 2024	11.8	2.639 AU	2.965 AU	12h00m	+01°40'	61.5°	19.2°
Opposition	24 Mar 2025	10.1	2.773 AU	1.783 AU	12h28m	+06°27'	171.2°	3.2°

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)                : 0.2182705
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2950003
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.13205
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 150.33595
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 228.05394
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 113.87109
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 197.94180
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -7.51830
            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. 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
2024-11-23 00:00 UT   12 00 15.9   +01 40 26     2.965    2.639   61.5   19.2   294   11.8 
2024-11-23 08:15 UT   12 00 41.5   +01 38 32     2.961    2.640   61.7   19.2   294   11.8 
2024-11-24 00:00 UT   12 01 30.1   +01 34 57     2.954    2.641   62.1   19.3   294   11.8 
2024-11-25 00:00 UT   12 02 43.8   +01 29 32     2.943    2.643   62.8   19.4   294   11.8 
2024-11-26 00:00 UT   12 03 57.0   +01 24 12     2.932    2.644   63.5   19.5   294   11.8 
2024-11-27 00:00 UT   12 05 09.6   +01 18 57     2.921    2.646   64.2   19.6   294   11.8 
2024-11-28 00:00 UT   12 06 21.6   +01 13 47     2.910    2.647   64.9   19.7   294   11.8 
2024-11-29 00:00 UT   12 07 33.0   +01 08 42     2.898    2.649   65.6   19.8   294   11.8 
2024-11-30 00:00 UT   12 08 43.9   +01 03 42     2.887    2.650   66.4   19.9   294   11.8 
2024-12-01 00:00 UT   12 09 54.1   +00 58 48     2.876    2.652   67.1   20.0   294   11.8 
2024-12-02 00:00 UT   12 11 03.7   +00 53 59     2.864    2.653   67.8   20.1   294   11.8 
2024-12-03 00:00 UT   12 12 12.7   +00 49 15     2.852    2.655   68.5   20.2   294   11.8 
2024-12-04 00:00 UT   12 13 21.1   +00 44 38     2.841    2.656   69.2   20.3   294   11.7 
2024-12-05 00:00 UT   12 14 28.9   +00 40 06     2.829    2.658   70.0   20.4   294   11.7 
2024-12-06 00:00 UT   12 15 36.0   +00 35 40     2.817    2.659   70.7   20.5   294   11.7 
2024-12-07 00:00 UT   12 16 42.4   +00 31 20     2.805    2.661   71.4   20.5   294   11.7 
2024-12-08 00:00 UT   12 17 48.1   +00 27 06     2.793    2.662   72.1   20.6   294   11.7 
2024-12-09 00:00 UT   12 18 53.2   +00 22 58     2.781    2.664   72.9   20.7   294   11.7 
2024-12-10 00:00 UT   12 19 57.6   +00 18 56     2.769    2.665   73.6   20.8   294   11.7 
2024-12-11 00:00 UT   12 21 01.2   +00 15 01     2.757    2.666   74.4   20.8   294   11.7 
2024-12-12 00:00 UT   12 22 04.2   +00 11 12     2.745    2.668   75.1   20.9   294   11.7 
2024-12-13 00:00 UT   12 23 06.5   +00 07 29     2.733    2.669   75.9   21.0   294   11.7 
2024-12-14 00:00 UT   12 24 08.0   +00 03 53     2.721    2.671   76.6   21.0   294   11.7 
2024-12-15 00:00 UT   12 25 08.7   +00 00 24     2.708    2.672   77.4   21.1   294   11.7 
2024-12-16 00:00 UT   12 26 08.7   +00 02 58     2.696    2.673   78.2   21.1   294   11.7 
2024-12-17 00:00 UT   12 27 08.0   +00 06 14     2.683    2.675   78.9   21.2   294   11.7 
2024-12-18 00:00 UT   12 28 06.4   +00 09 22     2.671    2.676   79.7   21.2   294   11.7 
2024-12-19 00:00 UT   12 29 04.1   +00 12 24     2.658    2.678   80.5   21.2   294   11.7 
2024-12-20 00:00 UT   12 30 00.9   +00 15 18     2.646    2.679   81.3   21.3   294   11.6 
2024-12-21 00:00 UT   12 30 57.0   +00 18 05     2.633    2.680   82.0   21.3   294   11.6 
2024-12-22 00:00 UT   12 31 52.2   +00 20 44     2.620    2.682   82.8   21.3   294   11.6 
2024-12-23 00:00 UT   12 32 46.5   +00 23 16     2.608    2.683   83.6   21.4   294   11.6 

    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.