268 Adorea
268 Adorea is a very large main belt asteroid, about 140 km (87 mi) in width. It was discovered by A. Borrelly on 8 June 1887 in Marseilles. This asteroid is a member of the Themis family[3] and is classified as a primitive carbonaceous F-type/C-type asteroid. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 3.09 AU with an orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.14 and a period of 5.44 yr. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 2.44° to the plane of the ecliptic.[1] From February 23 until March 2, 2006, photometric measurements were taken of the asteroid. These were used to produce a light curve showing a rotation period of 7.80±0.02 h with a brightness variation of 0.16±0.03 in magnitude. This result is consistent with some, but not all previous results. Some studies had suggested a longer rotation period of 15.959 h; double the time measured. However, the new data is inconsistent with the longer period.[4] In May 1979, 268 Adorea was positioned in proximity of the galaxy NGC 4517 and as a bright new light source it was identified as a potential supernova. However, the light was missing from a second photographic plate taken ten days later, and the source was soon identified as the asteroid.[5] The name refers to adorea liba, the Latin name for spelt cakes produced from meal and salt offered by the Romans as a sacrifice; the name was controversial among astronomers, as all previous asteroids had been named for humans or mythological figures.[6][7] References
External links
|
Portal di Ensiklopedia Dunia