259 Aletheia
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. H. F. Peters |
| Discovery site | Litchfield Obs., Clinton |
| Discovery date | 28 June 1886 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 259 Aletheia |
|
Named after
|
Aletheia[2] |
| 1947 LD | |
| main-belt | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 117.00 yr (42,736 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.5353 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.7347 AU |
| 3.1350 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1276 |
| 5.55 yr (2027.5 days) | |
| 71.260° | |
| Inclination | 10.813° |
| 86.864° | |
| 168.07° | |
| Earth MOID | 1.7207 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 178.60 km 190.05±6.82 km[3] |
| Mass | (7.79±0.43)×1018 kg[3] |
|
Mean density
|
2.16 ± 0.26[3] g/cm3 |
| 8.143 h | |
| 0.0436 | |
| B–V = 0.698 U–B = 0.311 CP (Tholen), X (SMASS) |
|
| 7.76 | |
| <templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references />, or <references group="..." /> |
|
259 Aletheia is a very large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by German–American astronomer Christian Peters on June 28, 1886, at Litchfield Observatory, Clinton, New York. The dark and heterogeneously composed X-type (Tholen: CP-type) asteroid contains primitive carbonaceous materials, responsible for its low albedo of 0.04. Aletheia measures about 185 kilometers in diameter and belongs to the largest asteroids of the main-belt. It has a semi-major axis of 3.1 AU and an orbit inclined by 11 degrees with a period of 5.55 years.[1]
Richard P. Binzel and Schelte Bus further added to the knowledge about this asteroid in a lightwave survey published in 2003. This project was known as Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (0.435-0.925 micrometre) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999.[4][5]
Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hill Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the Minor Planet Center.[6]
It is named after the Greek goddess of truth, Aletheia, the daughter of Zeus and one of the nurses of Apollo.[2]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />, or <references group="..." />External links
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database
- Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances
- Asteroid Lightcurve Data File
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
_mathilde.jpg){kind=small} |
This article about a C-type asteroid native to the asteroid belt is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. See Table 1.
- ↑ Bus, S., Binzel, R. P. Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II. EAR-A-I0028-4-SBN0001/SMASSII-V1.0. NASA Planetary Data System, 2003.
- ↑ JPL Small-Body Database Browser
- ↑ Lightcurve Results
