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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 18 Melpomene

Below the horizon.  Rise: 21:09 | Tran: 3:17 | Set: 9:20
Alt: -23.30°   Az: 55.03°   Direction: North-East

Asteroid 18 Melpomene was discovered on June 24, 1852, by astronomer John Russell Hind. It is part of the main asteroid belt and is approximately 139 km in diameter. Its name comes from Greek mythology, where Melpomene was the muse of tragedy. The asteroid rotates in about 14.2 hours and orbits the Sun every 4.49 Earth years. Its surface has been observed to have a relatively high albedo, indicating a reflective surface.

Asteroid 18 Melpomene is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 294,088,808.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 12h 54m 37s and the Declination is +01° 03’ 11” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 18 Melpomene is 10.97 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 18 Melpomene in Virgo on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 18 Melpomene in Virgo on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 18 Melpomene is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

18 Melpomene
RA: 12h 53m 20s
Dec: +01° 11’ 20”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 18 Melpomene. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 18 Melpomene?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 18 Melpomene in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 54m 37s
+01° 03’ 11”
15h 15m 19s
04h 09m 56s

J2000

12h 53m 20s
+01° 11’ 20”

Additional Information

Virgo
10.97

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 18 Melpomene from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 88.9°
Max altitude: 39.5°
Azimuth: 271.0°
  • 18 Melpomene is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 18 Melpomene is visible with the help of a binocular with a 70-80mm aperture or a small telescope.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 294,088,808.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.9658622588 Astronomical Units. Light takes 16m 20.975s to travel from Asteroid 18 Melpomene and arrive to us.

294,088,808.0
1.9658622588
16m 20.975s

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

Chart of the distance of Asteroid 18 Melpomene from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 18 Melpomene from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 18 Melpomene to Earth happens on Fri Sep 29 1922 at a distance of 0.809306 Astronomical Units, or 121,070,463 kilometers:

Fri Sep 29 1922
121,070,463
0.809306

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

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 18 Melpomene, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

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 24 February 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 2023-Sep-11 16:10:04
2,460,199.1737 JD
Next perihelion transit 2027-Mar-04 16:42
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

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 18 Melpomene
View Asteroid 18 Melpomene in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 18 Melpomene. Source: 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
2025 Feb 07 12h 55m 44s +00° 18’ 28” 11.10 Virgo
2025 Feb 08 12h 55m 41s +00° 23’ 38” 11.08 Virgo
2025 Feb 09 12h 55m 36s +00° 28’ 59” 11.07 Virgo
2025 Feb 10 12h 55m 29s +00° 34’ 30” 11.05 Virgo
2025 Feb 11 12h 55m 21s +00° 40’ 11” 11.03 Virgo
2025 Feb 12 12h 55m 12s +00° 46’ 03” 11.01 Virgo
2025 Feb 13 12h 55m 00s +00° 52’ 06” 10.99 Virgo
2025 Feb 14 12h 54m 48s +00° 58’ 17” 10.98 Virgo
2025 Feb 15 12h 54m 34s +01° 04’ 39” 10.96 Virgo
2025 Feb 16 12h 54m 18s +01° 11’ 12” 10.94 Virgo
2025 Feb 17 12h 54m 01s +01° 17’ 54” 10.92 Virgo
2025 Feb 18 12h 53m 42s +01° 24’ 46” 10.90 Virgo
2025 Feb 19 12h 53m 22s +01° 31’ 47” 10.89 Virgo
2025 Feb 20 12h 53m 00s +01° 38’ 56” 10.87 Virgo

Additional Resources