(18) Melpomene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	2 Jun 2023	10.8	1.891 AU	2.037 AU	00h14m	+00°54'	67.2°	29.6°
Opposition	5 Nov 2023	8.2	1.824 AU	0.863 AU	03h07m	-04°04'	159.2°	11.1°

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)                : 0.2181677
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2951370
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.13265
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 150.35852
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 228.18172
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 303.68405
            Epoch                           : 2023 Feb 25

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 198.09230
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -7.53388
            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
2023-06-02 00:00 UT   00 14 36.2   +00 54 25     2.037    1.891   67.2   29.6   246   10.8 
2023-06-02 21:33 UT   00 16 28.4   +01 02 28     2.027    1.890   67.6   29.7   246   10.8 
2023-06-03 00:00 UT   00 16 41.2   +01 03 23     2.026    1.889   67.6   29.8   246   10.8 
2023-06-04 00:00 UT   00 18 46.1   +01 12 17     2.016    1.888   68.1   29.9   246   10.8 
2023-06-05 00:00 UT   00 20 50.9   +01 21 08     2.005    1.886   68.5   30.0   246   10.8 
2023-06-06 00:00 UT   00 22 55.6   +01 29 54     1.994    1.884   68.9   30.2   246   10.7 
2023-06-07 00:00 UT   00 25 00.3   +01 38 36     1.984    1.882   69.3   30.3   246   10.7 
2023-06-08 00:00 UT   00 27 04.9   +01 47 14     1.973    1.881   69.7   30.4   246   10.7 
2023-06-09 00:00 UT   00 29 09.4   +01 55 47     1.963    1.879   70.2   30.5   246   10.7 
2023-06-10 00:00 UT   00 31 13.8   +02 04 16     1.952    1.877   70.6   30.7   246   10.7 
2023-06-11 00:00 UT   00 33 18.1   +02 12 40     1.942    1.876   71.0   30.8   246   10.7 
2023-06-12 00:00 UT   00 35 22.2   +02 20 59     1.931    1.874   71.4   30.9   246   10.7 
2023-06-13 00:00 UT   00 37 26.3   +02 29 13     1.920    1.872   71.9   31.0   246   10.7 
2023-06-14 00:00 UT   00 39 30.3   +02 37 22     1.910    1.871   72.3   31.1   246   10.7 
2023-06-15 00:00 UT   00 41 34.1   +02 45 25     1.899    1.869   72.7   31.3   246   10.7 
2023-06-16 00:00 UT   00 43 37.8   +02 53 23     1.889    1.868   73.2   31.4   247   10.6 
2023-06-17 00:00 UT   00 45 41.4   +03 01 15     1.878    1.866   73.6   31.5   247   10.6 

    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.