271 Penthesilea

271 Penthesilea

Discovery
Discovered by	Viktor Knorre
Discovery date	October 13, 1887
Designations
Named after	Penthesilea
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 30 January 2005 (JD 2453400.5)
Aphelion	494.138 Gm (3.303 AU)
Perihelion	406.502 Gm (2.717 AU)
Semi-major axis	450.32 Gm (3.01 AU)
Eccentricity	0.097
Orbital period	1907.586 d (5.22 a)
Average orbital speed	17.17 km/s
Mean anomaly	169.508°
Inclination	3.537°
Longitude of ascending node	335.668°
Argument of perihelion	58.325°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	58.0 km
Rotation period	18.787[2] h
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.8

271 Penthesilea is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by Viktor Knorre on October 13, 1887 in Berlin. It was his last asteroid discovery. The asteroid was named after Penthesilea, the mythical Greek queen of the Amazons.^[3]

Photometric observations of this asteroid were made in early 2009 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The resulting light curve shows a synodic rotation period of 18.787 ± 0.001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.32 ± 0.04 in magnitude.^[2]

References

1. Yeomans, Donald K., "271 Penthesilea", JPL Small-Body Database Browser (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), retrieved 2013-03-25.
2. Pilcher, Frederick (July 2009), "Rotation Period Determinations for 120 Lachesis, 131 Vala 157 Dejanira, and 271 Penthesilea", The Minor Planet Bulletin 36 (3), pp. 100–102, Bibcode:2009MPBu...36..100P.
3. Schmadel, Lutz D.; International Astronomical Union (2003). Dictionary of minor planet names. Berlin; New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 39. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

External links

• 271 Penthesilea at the JPL Small-Body Database

• Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters