18 Melpomene

Main-belt asteroid October 2019 yes #D6D6D6 18 Melpomene 24px|class=skin-invert|𜻋 (historical) 18 Melpomene VLT (2021), deconvolved.pdf VLT-SPHERE image of Melpomene John Russell Hind 24 June 1852 (18) Melpomene m ɛ l ˈ p ɒ m ᵻ n iːNoah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language Melpomenean m ɛ l p ɒ m ᵻ ˈ n iː @ nTim Shephard (2014) Echoing Helicon Melpomenē Main belt 21 November 2025(JD 2461000.5) 0 2.796 AU e6km unit on 1.795 AU e6km unit 2.296 AU e6km unit 0.218 1270.37 days years 2 113.8711° 10.131° 150.330° 4 March 2027 228.052° 2.693 AU e6km unit 3.543 170 × 155 × 129 km(150 × 125 km)(150 × 170 km) 141 2 km139.594 2.452 km 0.19Flattening derived from the maximum aspect ratio (c/a): , where (c/a) = 0.81 0.06. 3.60 0.19 18 kgCalculated from its standard gravitational parameter GM = 0.240 0.013 km3 s2. 2.45 0.17 g/cm3Assuming a diameter of 141 ± 2 km. 11.57 hours days 211.570306 0.000005 h11.573 hours days 2 64° S 7.5 to 12.0 6.356.51 19 2 deg 12 2 deg 0.221 (calculated)0.2230.181 ± 0.033 0.23" to 0.059" 18 Melpomene is a large, bright asteroid in the main asteroid belt. It was discovered by John Russell Hind on 24 June 1852, and named after Melpomenē, the Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology. History Discovery Melpomene was discovered by English astronomer John Russell Hind on the evening of 24 June 1852. That night, he was observing from George Bishop's Observatory in London, England. Looking at a section of the sky in the 18th hour of right ascension, he spotted a new starlike object with a magnitude of 9. He immediately concluded that it was a "new planet" between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid's discovery—Hind's fifth—was announced in the astronomical journal Astronomische Nachrichten on 30 June 1852. Name and symbol George Bishop, the observatory's owner, invited astronomer George Biddell Airy to name the asteroid. Airy chose Melpomene; in Greek mythology, Melpomene was the Muse of tragedy.15 In a letter to fellow astronomer David Gill, he explained: I look upon her as my planet for the following reason which you will not find in books. On 1839 June 24 I lost my noble boy Arthur. On 1852 June 24 (just 13 years later) I lost my dear daughter Elizabeth. And, while feeling that day of sorrow, I learnt that on that day a planet was discovered which I was requested to name. So I fixed on the name of the Muse of sadness. George B. Airy In a letter to David Gill15 Melpomene was not assigned a symbol upon discovery. One was later published in Hind's 1852 book An Astronomical Vocabulary, appearing as a dagger over a star 12px|class=skin-invert|alt=18 Melpomene symbol (U+1CECB 𜻋).8 Orbit Melpomene orbits the Sun at an average distance (semi-major axis) of 2.30 astronomical units (AU), within the main asteroid belt. It has an orbital period of 3.48 Earth years. Having an elliptical orbit with an orbital eccentricity of 0.22, its distance from the Sun ranges from 1.80 AU at perihelion to 2.80 AU at aphelion. Its orbit is inclined by 10° with respect to the ecliptic plane. Physical characteristics Melpomene is classified as a stony S-type asteroid. Melpomene occulted the star SAO 114159 on 11 December 1978. A possible Melpomenean satellite with a diameter of at least 37 km was detected. The satellite candidate received a provisional designation S/1978 (18) 1. In 1988 a search for satellites or dust orbiting this asteroid was performed using the UH88 telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories, but the effort came up empty. Melpomene was observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. It was able to resolve the asteroid's slightly elongated shape, but no satellites were detected. Melpomene has been studied by radar. Photometric observations during 2012 provided a rotation period of 11.571 0.001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.34 0.02 in magnitude, which is consistent with previous studies. It has a mean diameter of 141 2 km. Notes References William B. Ashworth Jr. Scientist of the Day - John Russell Hind https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/john-russell-hind/ Linda Hall Library 12 May 2021 10 December 2025 live https://web.archive.org/web/20250327192326/https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/annibale-de-gasparis/ 27 March 2025 Lightcurves and Derived Rotation Periods for 18 Melpomene 38 Leda, and 465 Alekto Pilcher Frederick Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers 40 1 33 January 2013 2013MPBu...40...33P Numbered Minor Planets 1–5000 Discovery Circumstances IAU Minor Planet center https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/NumberedMPs000001.html 2013-04-07 . JPL SBDB: 18 Melpomene NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=18 25 April 2026 IAUC 3315: 1978 (18) 1; WZ Sge Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03300/03315.html 2011-07-05 . Gradie J. Flynn L. A Search for Satellites and Dust Belts Around Asteroids: Negative Results Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 19 405–406 March 1988 1988LPI....19..405G . Radar-Detected Asteroids and Comets NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/ 2011-10-30 . http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/astdata04/simps04/diamalb.tab https://archive.today/20060623213811/http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/astdata04/simps04/diamalb.tab dead 2006-06-23 Asteroid Data Archive 2008-11-03 Planetary Science Institute http://www.astrosurf.com/aude-old/map_files/AstVarMAP01-2003.htm Lightcurves and Map Data on Numbered Asteroids N° 1 TO 52225 2008-11-03 AstroSurf https://web.archive.org/web/20051127063200/http://www.astrosurf.com/aude-old/map_files/AstVarMAP01-2003.htm 2005-11-27 Hind John R. Entdeckung eines neuen Planeten June 1852 Astronomische Nachrichten 34 25 363–364 10.1002/asna.18520342504 Hind John R. Discovery of Melpomene June 24, 1852 June 1852 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 12 194 10.1093/mnras/12.8.194 free Donald H. Menzel Jay M. Pasachoff 1983 A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets 2nd Houghton Mifflin 391 Boston, MA 0-395-34835-8 registration https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetostar00menz_0/page/391 Storrs Alex Weiss Zellner Burlsen Imaging Observations of Asteroids with Hubble Space Telescope Icarus 137 2 260–268 1999 10.1006/icar.1999.6047 http://web.media.mit.edu/~win/hstpub.pdf 2008-11-03 1999Icar..137..260S https://web.archive.org/web/20081030022816/http://web.media.mit.edu/~win/hstpub.pdf 30 October 2008 dead etal Schmadel Lutz D. Dictionary of minor planet names 1 5th 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York 3-540-00238-3 16 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_13 Storrs Alex Dunne Conan Mugnier A closer look at main belt asteroids 1: WF/PC images Icarus 173 2 409–416 2005 10.1016/j.icarus.2004.08.007 http://scripts.mit.edu/~paleomag/articles/Storrs_Weiss_2005_Icarus.pdf 2008-11-26 2005Icar..173..409S etal dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120310150819/http://scripts.mit.edu/~paleomag/articles/Storrs_Weiss_2005_Icarus.pdf 2012-03-10 2008 Recent Asteroid Mass Determinations Personal Website Jim Baer http://home.earthlink.net/~jimbaer1/astmass.txt 2008-11-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20130702212735/http://home.earthlink.net/~jimbaer1/astmass.txt 2013-07-02 dead P. Vernazza etal October 2021 VLT/SPHERE imaging survey of the largest main-belt asteroids: Final results and synthesis Astronomy & Astrophysics 54 A56 A56 10.1051/0004-6361/202141781 2021A&A...654A..56V free 10261/263281 free https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2023/23207-historical-asteroids.pdf Unicode request for historical asteroid symbols Bala Gavin Jared Miller Kirk 18 September 2023 unicode.org Unicode 26 September 2023 Fuentes-Muñoz Oscar Farnocchia Davide Giorgini Jon D. Park Ryan S. 2025-12-01 Asteroid Mass Estimation by Mutual Perturbations During Close Encounters After Gaia Focused Product Release The Astronomical Journal 170 6 353 10.3847/1538-3881/ae0cc9 0004-6256 free 2025AJ....170..353F 283347135 External links 18 17 Thetis 18 19 Fortuna Category:Background asteroids Melpomene Melpomene Category:S-type asteroids (Tholen) Category:S-type asteroids (SMASS) 18520624 vec:Lista de asteroidi#18 Melpòmene