(18) Melpomene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Apr 2026	10.8	2.396 AU	1.965 AU	19h17m	-10°51'	102.7°	24.2°
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
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   19 17 54.2   -10 51 45     1.965    2.396  102.7   24.2   260   10.8 
2026-04-23 15:46 UT   19 18 25.1   -10 48 46     1.955    2.395  103.2   24.1   259   10.8 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   19 18 41.1   -10 47 12     1.951    2.394  103.5   24.1   259   10.8 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   19 19 26.7   -10 42 41     1.936    2.392  104.2   24.1   259   10.8 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   19 20 11.1   -10 38 10     1.922    2.389  105.0   24.0   259   10.8 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   19 20 54.2   -10 33 40     1.908    2.387  105.8   23.9   259   10.8 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   19 21 36.1   -10 29 11     1.894    2.385  106.5   23.9   258   10.7 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   19 22 16.7   -10 24 44     1.880    2.382  107.3   23.8   258   10.7 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   19 22 56.1   -10 20 18     1.866    2.380  108.1   23.7   258   10.7 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   19 23 34.1   -10 15 54     1.852    2.378  108.9   23.6   258   10.7 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   19 24 10.8   -10 11 32     1.838    2.375  109.7   23.5   257   10.7 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   19 24 46.2   -10 07 11     1.825    2.373  110.4   23.5   257   10.6 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   19 25 20.2   -10 02 53     1.811    2.370  111.2   23.4   257   10.6 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   19 25 52.8   -09 58 38     1.797    2.368  112.0   23.2   257   10.6 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   19 26 24.0   -09 54 24     1.784    2.366  112.8   23.1   256   10.6 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   19 26 53.8   -09 50 14     1.770    2.363  113.6   23.0   256   10.6 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   19 27 22.1   -09 46 06     1.757    2.361  114.5   22.9   256   10.5 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   19 27 48.9   -09 42 02     1.744    2.359  115.3   22.8   255   10.5 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   19 28 14.3   -09 38 01     1.731    2.356  116.1   22.6   255   10.5 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   19 28 38.1   -09 34 04     1.717    2.354  116.9   22.5   255   10.5 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   19 29 00.5   -09 30 10     1.704    2.351  117.8   22.3   255   10.4 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   19 29 21.2   -09 26 20     1.691    2.349  118.6   22.2   254   10.4 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   19 29 40.4   -09 22 34     1.679    2.347  119.4   22.0   254   10.4 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   19 29 58.0   -09 18 53     1.666    2.344  120.3   21.9   254   10.4 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   19 30 14.0   -09 15 17     1.653    2.342  121.1   21.7   253   10.3 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   19 30 28.3   -09 11 45     1.641    2.339  122.0   21.5   253   10.3 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   19 30 41.0   -09 08 19     1.628    2.337  122.9   21.3   253   10.3 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   19 30 52.1   -09 04 58     1.616    2.334  123.7   21.1   252   10.3 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   19 31 01.5   -09 01 42     1.604    2.332  124.6   20.9   252   10.2 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   19 31 09.2   -08 58 33     1.591    2.330  125.5   20.7   252   10.2 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   19 31 15.2   -08 55 29     1.579    2.327  126.4   20.5   251   10.2 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   19 31 19.5   -08 52 32     1.568    2.325  127.3   20.3   251   10.2 

    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.