259 Aletheia

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

    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

    1. 1 2 3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 259 Aletheia" (2015-09-15 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved October 2015.
    2. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (259) Aletheia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 38. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved October 2015.
    3. 1 2 3 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.
    4. ↑ 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.
    5. ↑ JPL Small-Body Database Browser
    6. ↑ Lightcurve Results

    External links


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