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.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of asteroid 18 Melpomene in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Asteroid 18 Melpomene
Asteroid 18 Melpomene is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of
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.
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.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 18 Melpomene from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
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
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.
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:
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.
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 10 2025 | 12h 25m 46s | +05° 55’ 01” | 11.98 | Virgo |
| Jul 11 2025 | 12h 26m 40s | +05° 47’ 59” | 11.99 | Virgo |
| Jul 12 2025 | 12h 27m 35s | +05° 40’ 55” | 12.00 | Virgo |
| Jul 13 2025 | 12h 28m 31s | +05° 33’ 46” | 12.00 | Virgo |
| Jul 14 2025 | 12h 29m 27s | +05° 26’ 34” | 12.01 | Virgo |
| Jul 15 2025 | 12h 30m 24s | +05° 19’ 19” | 12.02 | Virgo |
| Jul 16 2025 | 12h 31m 21s | +05° 12’ 02” | 12.02 | Virgo |
| Jul 17 2025 | 12h 32m 20s | +05° 04’ 41” | 12.03 | Virgo |
| Jul 18 2025 | 12h 33m 18s | +04° 57’ 17” | 12.04 | Virgo |
| Jul 19 2025 | 12h 34m 18s | +04° 49’ 51” | 12.04 | Virgo |
| Jul 20 2025 | 12h 35m 18s | +04° 42’ 21” | 12.05 | Virgo |
| Jul 21 2025 | 12h 36m 18s | +04° 34’ 48” | 12.05 | Virgo |
| Jul 22 2025 | 12h 37m 19s | +04° 27’ 13” | 12.06 | Virgo |
| Jul 23 2025 | 12h 38m 21s | +04° 19’ 35” | 12.07 | Virgo |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Asteroid 18 Melpomene: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is asteroid 18 Melpomene?: Key information on where to find asteroid 18 Melpomene in the sky.
- Distance of asteroid 18 Melpomene from Earth: Find out how far asteroid 18 Melpomene is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is asteroid 18 Melpomene?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of asteroid 18 Melpomene from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of asteroid 18 Melpomene's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of asteroid 18 Melpomene's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days asteroid 18 Melpomene's computed ephemeris.
- Orbital elements: Information about asteroid 18 Melpomene orbital parameters.
- Orbit Visualization: 3D interactive 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.