File:18_Melpomene_VLT_(2021),_deconvolved.pdf · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
18 Melpomene is an asteroid located in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is one of the larger asteroids and was among the earlier asteroids to be discovered, making it scientifically significant for understanding the composition and history of our solar system.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Picture of the Day · NASA
Pathfinder on Mars
2026-07-04
On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
via NASA APOD
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Melpomene
- Followed by
- 19 Fortuna
- Follows
- 17 Thetis
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 139.594
- Mass
- 3.0
- Orbital period
- 1270.370896907891
- Image
- A601.M993.shape.png
Show 20 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- John Russell Hind
- site of astronomical discovery
- Bishop Observatory
- time of discovery or invention
- 1852-06-24
- asteroid spectral type
- S-type asteroid
- orbital inclination
- 10.13085816291111
- density
- 1.69
- rotation period
- 11.57
- albedo
- 0.181
- Commons category
- 18 Melpomene
- provisional designation
- A852 MA
- absolute magnitude
- 6.35
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.2179619785208267
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.295556955920155
- periapsis
- 1.795212820000552
- apoapsis
- 2.795901091839757
- longitude of ascending node
- 150.3289541574114
- argument of periapsis
- 228.0517465279724
- mean anomaly
- 227.2638565204588
- time of periapsis
- 2461468.900371234
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “18 Melpomene” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.