(18) Melpomene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Mar 2025	10.3	2.765 AU	1.802 AU	12h39m	+04°34'	162.1°	6.3°
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)                : 0.2181122
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2952637
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.13133
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 150.33419
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 228.05742
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 170.57139
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 197.94359
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -7.51818
            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
2025-03-12 00:00 UT   12 39 42.2   +04 34 59     1.802    2.765  162.1    6.3   267   10.3 
2025-03-12 04:42 UT   12 39 32.9   +04 36 46     1.801    2.765  162.3    6.3   267   10.3 
2025-03-13 00:00 UT   12 38 54.4   +04 44 05     1.799    2.765  163.2    6.0   265   10.3 
2025-03-14 00:00 UT   12 38 05.8   +04 53 12     1.796    2.766  164.2    5.6   262   10.3 
2025-03-15 00:00 UT   12 37 16.4   +05 02 19     1.794    2.767  165.2    5.3   260   10.3 
2025-03-16 00:00 UT   12 36 26.3   +05 11 26     1.791    2.767  166.2    4.9   257   10.2 
2025-03-17 00:00 UT   12 35 35.6   +05 20 32     1.789    2.768  167.1    4.6   253   10.2 
2025-03-18 00:00 UT   12 34 44.3   +05 29 37     1.787    2.769  168.0    4.3   249   10.2 
2025-03-19 00:00 UT   12 33 52.4   +05 38 41     1.786    2.769  168.8    4.0   244   10.2 
2025-03-20 00:00 UT   12 33 00.0   +05 47 42     1.785    2.770  169.5    3.7   239   10.2 
2025-03-21 00:00 UT   12 32 07.2   +05 56 40     1.784    2.771  170.2    3.5   232   10.2 
2025-03-22 00:00 UT   12 31 14.1   +06 05 35     1.783    2.771  170.6    3.4   225   10.1 
2025-03-23 00:00 UT   12 30 20.5   +06 14 26     1.783    2.772  171.0    3.2   218   10.1 
2025-03-24 00:00 UT   12 29 26.8   +06 23 13     1.783    2.773  171.2    3.2   210   10.1 
2025-03-25 00:00 UT   12 28 32.8   +06 31 56     1.784    2.773  171.2    3.2   202   10.1 
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   12 27 38.7   +06 40 33     1.784    2.774  171.0    3.2   194   10.1 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   12 26 44.5   +06 49 04     1.785    2.774  170.7    3.3   186   10.2 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   12 25 50.4   +06 57 29     1.786    2.775  170.2    3.5   179   10.2 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   12 24 56.2   +07 05 48     1.788    2.776  169.6    3.7   173   10.2 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   12 24 02.2   +07 13 59     1.790    2.776  168.9    4.0   167   10.2 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   12 23 08.4   +07 22 02     1.792    2.777  168.1    4.3   163   10.2 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   12 22 14.8   +07 29 58     1.794    2.777  167.2    4.6   158   10.2 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   12 21 21.5   +07 37 45     1.797    2.778  166.3    4.9   155   10.3 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   12 20 28.5   +07 45 23     1.800    2.778  165.3    5.2   152   10.3 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   12 19 36.0   +07 52 51     1.803    2.779  164.3    5.6   149   10.3 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   12 18 44.0   +08 00 11     1.806    2.779  163.3    5.9   146   10.3 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   12 17 52.5   +08 07 20     1.810    2.780  162.2    6.3   144   10.3 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   12 17 01.6   +08 14 19     1.814    2.780  161.2    6.7   142   10.4 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   12 16 11.3   +08 21 07     1.819    2.781  160.1    7.0   140   10.4 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   12 15 21.8   +08 27 45     1.823    2.781  159.0    7.4   139   10.4 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   12 14 32.9   +08 34 11     1.828    2.782  157.9    7.8   138   10.4 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   12 13 44.9   +08 40 26     1.833    2.782  156.8    8.2   136   10.5 

    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.