163 Erigone

163 Erigone
Discovery
Discovered by J. Perrotin
Discovery site Toulouse
Discovery date April 26, 1876
Designations
MPC designation 163
Named after
 Erigone
Main belt (Erigone)
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch August 27, 2011
Aphelion 2.819 AU
Perihelion 1.916 AU
2.367 AU
Eccentricity 0.1907
1330.37 d
3.64 a
152.753°
Inclination 4.813°
160.204°
298.345°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 72.70 ± 1.95[2] km
Mass (2.01 ± 0.68) × 1018 kg[2]
Mean density
 9.99 ± 3.45[2] g/cm3
16.136 h
Albedo 0.0428 ± 0.0092[3]
Spectral type
 C[3] (Tholen)
9.48[3]

    163 Erigone is an asteroid from the asteroid belt and the namesake of the Erigone family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements and properties. It was discovered by French astronomer Henri Joseph Perrotin on April 26, 1876, and named after one of the two Erigones in Greek mythology.

    Erigone is a relatively large and dark asteroid with an estimated size of 73 km.[2] Based upon its spectrum, it is classified as a C-type asteroid,[3] which indicates that it probably has a carbonaceous composition.

    2014 occultation of Regulus

    Path of occultation from New York to Ontario

    In the early morning hours of March 20, 2014, Erigone occulted the first-magnitude star Regulus[4] as first predicted by A. Vitagliano in 2004.[5] This would have been a rare case of an occultation of a very bright star visible from a highly populated area, since the shadow path moved across New York state and Ontario, including all five boroughs of New York City.[5] Observers in the shadow path would have seen the star wink out for as long as 14 seconds.[4][6]

    However, heavy clouds and rain blocked the view for most if not all people on the shadow path.[7] The website of the International Occultation Timing Association does not list any successful observations at all.[8]

    References

    1. ↑ 163 Erigone
    2. 1 2 3 4 Carry, B. (December 2012), "Density of asteroids", Planetary and Space Science 73, pp. 98–118, arXiv:1203.4336, Bibcode:2012P&SS...73...98C, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009. See Table 1.
    3. 1 2 3 4 Pravec, P.; et al. (May 2012), "Absolute Magnitudes of Asteroids and a Revision of Asteroid Albedo Estimates from WISE Thermal Observations", Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2012, Proceedings of the conference held May 16–20, 2012 in Niigata, Japan (1667), Bibcode:2012LPICo1667.6089P. See Table 4.
    4. 1 2 Dunham, David (2006). "The International Occultation Timing Association 24th Annual Meeting at Mt. Cuba Observatory, Greenville, Delaware". International Occultation Timing Association. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
    5. 1 2 Vitagliano, Aldo (2010). "The Solex Page". Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
    6. ↑ Preston, Steve (2014-03-14). "(163) Erigone / HIP 49669". Asteroid Occultation. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
    7. ↑ Asteroid eclipse rained out Space.com 2014 M1rch 20
    8. ↑ Regulus 2014 International Occultation Timing Association

    External links


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