18 Melpomene
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18 Melpomene is a large, bright main-belt asteroid that was discovered by J. R. Hind on 24 June 1852,[1] and named after Melpomenē, the Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology. Its historical symbol was a dagger over a star; it is in the pipeline for Unicode 17.0 as U+1CECB (.svg){kind=small}
).[2][3]
Melpomene is classified as an S-type asteroid and is composed of silicates and metals. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of Template:Cvt with a period of Template:Convert and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.22. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 10.1° to the plane of the ecliptic.[4]
Melpomene occulted the star SAO 114159 on 11 December 1978. A possible Melpomenean satellite with a diameter at least 37 km was detected. The satellite candidate received a provisional designation S/1978 (18) 1.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
Melpomene has been studied by radar.[8] Photometric observations during 2012 provided a rotation period of Template:Val with a brightness variation of Template:Val in magnitude, which is consistent with previous studies.[9] It has a mean diameter of Template:Val.[10][4]
Melpomene can reach an apparent magnitude of +7.9 at a favorable opposition near perihelion, such as occurred in September 2002 when it was Template:Convert from Earth.[11]
Notes
References
External links
Template:Minor planets navigator Template:Small Solar System bodies Template:Authority control
vec:Lista de asteroidi#18 Melpòmene
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