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public  Gaya, Nigeria Gaya, Nigeria  ⓘ
TimezoneAfrica/Lagos
Sunrise: 6:07 
Transit: 12:29 
Sunset: 18:51
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 18 Melpomene

Below the horizon.  Rise: 11:31 | Tran: 17:34 | Set: 23:38
Alt: -71.83°   Az: 347.57°   Direction: North-North-West

Asteroid 18 Melpomene is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 428,699,751.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 12h 25m 55s and the Declination is +05° 53’ 47” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of asteroid 18 Melpomene is 11.98.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 18 Melpomene in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of asteroid 18 Melpomene in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of asteroid 18 Melpomene in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of asteroid 18 Melpomene against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

18 Melpomene
RA: 12h 24m 37s
Dec: +06° 02’ 15”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of asteroid 18 Melpomene. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 25m 55s
+05° 53’ 47”
11h 44m 31s
00h 10m 27s

J2000

12h 24m 37s
+06° 02’ 15”

Additional Information

Virgo
11.98

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 18 Melpomene from Gaya, Nigeria (all times relative to the local timezone Africa/Lagos):

Azimuth: 84.1°
Max altitude: 84.0°
Azimuth: 275.8°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of asteroid 18 Melpomene from Earth is currently 428,699,751.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.8656808349 Astronomical Units. Light takes 23m 49.988s to travel from asteroid 18 Melpomene and arrive to us.

428,699,751.0
2.8656808349
23m 49.988s

The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 18 Melpomene from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of asteroid 18 Melpomene from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 18 Melpomene from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 1900 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of asteroid 18 Melpomene to Earth happened on Friday 29 September 1922 at a distance of 0.809306 Astronomical Units, or 121,070,463 kilometers:

Friday 29 September 1922
121,070,463
0.809306

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of asteroid 18 Melpomene, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of asteroid 18 Melpomene as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of asteroid 18 Melpomene at epoch February, 24 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.21816766
Orbit inclination i 10.13264675°
Perihelion distance q 1.79441232 AU
268,440,262 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.79586165 AU
418,254,951 km
Semi-major axis a 2.29513698 AU
343,347,606 km
Orbital period period 3.4771 years
1,270.0223 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp September 11, 2023
2,460,199.1737 JD
Next perihelion transit March 4, 2027
2,461,469.1960 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 228.1817042771°
Longitude of the ascending node node 150.3585514521°
Mean anomaly M 303.68404452944°
Mean motion n 0.28345959°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 18 Melpomene relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

Physical Properties

The table below lists the known key physical properties of asteroid 18 Melpomene. The source for this data is the JPL Small-Body Database.

Physical Parameter Value Relative to Earth
Diameter 140.57 km 0.0110
Sideral Rotation 11.5700 hours 0.4834
Absolute Magnitude 6.51
Geometric Albedo 0.2225

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of asteroid 18 Melpomene computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jul 03 2025 12h 19m 45s +06° 42’ 31” 11.92 Virgo
Jul 04 2025 12h 20m 35s +06° 35’ 55” 11.93 Virgo
Jul 05 2025 12h 21m 25s +06° 29’ 16” 11.94 Virgo
Jul 06 2025 12h 22m 16s +06° 22’ 33” 11.95 Virgo
Jul 07 2025 12h 23m 07s +06° 15’ 45” 11.96 Virgo
Jul 08 2025 12h 23m 59s +06° 08’ 55” 11.97 Virgo
Jul 09 2025 12h 24m 52s +06° 02’ 01” 11.97 Virgo
Jul 10 2025 12h 25m 46s +05° 55’ 03” 11.98 Virgo
Jul 11 2025 12h 26m 40s +05° 48’ 01” 11.99 Virgo
Jul 12 2025 12h 27m 35s +05° 40’ 57” 12.00 Virgo
Jul 13 2025 12h 28m 31s +05° 33’ 48” 12.00 Virgo
Jul 14 2025 12h 29m 27s +05° 26’ 36” 12.01 Virgo
Jul 15 2025 12h 30m 24s +05° 19’ 21” 12.02 Virgo
Jul 16 2025 12h 31m 21s +05° 12’ 04” 12.02 Virgo

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