112 Iphigenia

112 Iphigenia

Discovery
Discovered by	Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
Discovery date	September 19, 1870
Designations
Named after	Iphigenia
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion	410.610 Gm (2.745 AU)
Perihelion	317.471 Gm (2.122 AU)
Semi-major axis	364.041 Gm (2.433 AU)
Eccentricity	0.128
Orbital period	1386.548 d (3.80 a)
Average orbital speed	19.01 km/s
Mean anomaly	340.983°
Inclination	2.606°
Longitude of ascending node	323.651°
Argument of perihelion	16.901°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	71.07 ± 0.52 km
Mass	(1.97 ± 6.78) × 1018 kg
Mean density	10.48 ± 36.06 g/cm3
Surface gravity	0.0202 m/s²
Escape velocity	0.0382 km/s
Rotation period	31.466 h
Temperature	~178 K
Spectral type	C
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.84

112 Iphigenia /ɪfᵻdʒᵻˈnaɪ.ə/ is a fairly large and exceedingly dark main-belt asteroid. Based upon a classification as a C-type asteroid, it has probably a primitive carbonaceous composition. It was discovered by German-American astronomer C. H. F. Peters on September 19, 1870, and named after Iphigenia, the princess sacrificed by her father in Greek mythology. The orbital elements for 112 Iphigenia were published by German astronomer Friedrich Tietjen in 1871.

Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2007 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca were used to create a light curve plot, which was published in 2010. This showed a relatively long synodic rotation period of 31.385 ± 0.006 hours (1.3 days) and a brightness variation of 0.30 ± 0.02 magnitude during each cycle. These findings agree with independent results reported in 2008, which gave a period of 31.466 ± 0.001 hours.