(18) Melpomene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	24 Jan 2026	11.8	2.581 AU	3.186 AU	17h16m	-14°52'	44.7°	15.6°
Opposition	8 Jul 2026	9.0	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) : 150.32895
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 228.05175
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 227.26386
            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
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   17 16 57.8   -14 52 06     3.186    2.581   44.7   15.6   283   11.8 
2026-01-24 22:52 UT   17 18 33.8   -14 52 36     3.175    2.580   45.3   15.7   282   11.8 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   17 18 38.6   -14 52 38     3.175    2.580   45.3   15.7   282   11.8 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   17 20 19.2   -14 53 04     3.164    2.578   45.9   15.9   282   11.8 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   17 21 59.6   -14 53 25     3.152    2.576   46.5   16.1   282   11.8 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   17 23 39.9   -14 53 40     3.141    2.574   47.1   16.3   281   11.8 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   17 25 19.9   -14 53 50     3.129    2.572   47.7   16.5   281   11.8 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   17 26 59.7   -14 53 55     3.118    2.571   48.3   16.6   281   11.8 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   17 28 39.3   -14 53 55     3.106    2.569   48.9   16.8   280   11.8 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   17 30 18.6   -14 53 49     3.094    2.567   49.5   17.0   280   11.8 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   17 31 57.8   -14 53 38     3.082    2.565   50.1   17.2   280   11.8 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   17 33 36.7   -14 53 22     3.070    2.563   50.7   17.3   280   11.8 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   17 35 15.3   -14 53 00     3.058    2.561   51.4   17.5   279   11.7 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   17 36 53.8   -14 52 33     3.046    2.559   52.0   17.7   279   11.7 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   17 38 31.9   -14 52 01     3.034    2.557   52.6   17.8   279   11.7 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   17 40 09.8   -14 51 24     3.022    2.556   53.2   18.0   278   11.7 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   17 41 47.4   -14 50 41     3.009    2.554   53.8   18.2   278   11.7 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   17 43 24.8   -14 49 54     2.997    2.552   54.4   18.3   278   11.7 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   17 45 01.8   -14 49 01     2.984    2.550   55.0   18.5   278   11.7 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   17 46 38.5   -14 48 03     2.972    2.548   55.6   18.6   277   11.7 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   17 48 15.0   -14 46 59     2.959    2.546   56.2   18.8   277   11.7 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   17 49 51.1   -14 45 51     2.946    2.544   56.8   19.0   277   11.7 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   17 51 26.9   -14 44 38     2.933    2.542   57.4   19.1   276   11.7 

    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.