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Asteroid

Melete

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56 Melete (A857 RB)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.207 AU
True anomaly
174.01°
Distance from Earth
3.253 AU
As of
21 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Melete — 3.207 AU from the Sun Melete
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Melete is 3.253 AU from Earth today (27.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 40m 59s
Declination
+10° 09′ 57″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
3.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
78.64° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
2.598 AU
Eccentricity
0.2365
Inclination
8.08°
Orbital period
4.19 years
Perihelion
1.984 AU
Aphelion
3.213 AU
Longitude of ascending node
192.9°
Argument of periapsis
105.03°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 383.8 LD
0.9863 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.362

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,796
Data arc
160.8 years
First observed
13 June 1865
Last observed
5 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.34 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
61 km
Rotation period
18.15 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.057
Absolute magnitude (H)
8.51
Colour index (B–V)
0.7
Spectral type (SMASS)
Xk
Spectral type (Tholen)
P
Colour index (U–B)
0.31

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Goldschmidt, H.
Discovery date
9 September 1857
Discovery site
Paris

Also known as 56 · A857 RB · 1949 TH · 1986 EN5 · 1990 HG4

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Sources