Compute the position of Asteroid 18 Melpomene for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.
Asteroid 18 Melpomene is in the constellation of
Leo,
at a distance of 512,468,459.0 kilometers from Earth.
The current Right Ascension is
10h 28m 39s
and the Declination is +09° 00’ 34”
(apparent coordinates).
The magnitude of Asteroid 18 Melpomene is 11.77 (data provided by JPL Horizons).
Map showing Asteroid 18 Melpomene in Leo on September, 20 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
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.
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple
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Finder Charts
Sky map showing Asteroid 18 Melpomene in Leo on September, 20 2024.
Field of view: 10x6 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.
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.
Distance from Earth
The distance of Asteroid 18 Melpomene from Earth is currently 512,468,459.0 kilometers,
equivalent to 3.4256400616Astronomical Units.
Light takes
28m 29.411s to travel from Asteroid 18 Melpomene and arrive to us.
512,468,459.0
3.4256400616
28m 29.411s
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
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.
Compute the position of Asteroid 18 Melpomene for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and display the results on an interactive star map.
Orbital elements. Detailed information
about Asteroid 18 Melpomene orbital parameters.
Interactive orbit visualization. 3d
visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 18 Melpomene with respect to the major Solar System objects.
Physical data. Detailed
information about physical properties of Asteroid 18 Melpomene, such as mass and geometric properties.
15 days ephemerides. Table
showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 18 Melpomene for the past and next 7 days.
Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 18 Melpomene in the sky from your location.
Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 18 Melpomene with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.
Sky map showing Asteroid 18 Melpomene in Leo on September, 20 2024.
Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 18 Melpomene.
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins.
View in deep sky object tracker