Astronomy:259 Aletheia
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. H. F. Peters |
| Discovery site | Litchfield Obs., Clinton |
| Discovery date | 28 June 1886 |
| Designations | |
| (259) Aletheia | |
| Pronunciation | /æləˈθiːə/[3] |
| Named after | Aletheia[2] |
| A886 MA, 1947 LD | |
| Minor planet category | main-belt |
| Adjectives | Aletheian |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 117.00 yr (42,736 days) |
| |{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | 3.5353 AU |
| |{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | 2.7347 AU |
| 3.1350 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1276 |
| Orbital period | 5.55 yr (2027.5 days) |
| Mean anomaly | 71.260° |
| Inclination | 10.813° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 86.864° |
| 168.07° | |
| Earth MOID | 1.7207 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 174.32±1.05 km[4] 190.05±6.82 km[5] |
| Mass | (7.79±0.43)×1018 kg[5] |
| Mean density | 2.16 ± 0.26[5] g/cm3 |
| Rotation period | 8.143 h |
| Geometric albedo | 0.0436 |
| B–V = 0.698 U–B = 0.311 CP (Tholen), X (SMASS) | |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 7.76 |
.svg){kind=small}
Aletheia (minor planet designation: 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.[6][7]
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.[8]
It is named after the Greek goddess of truth, Aletheia, the daughter of Zeus and one of the nurses of Apollo.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 259 Aletheia". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2000259. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (259) Aletheia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 38. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_260. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.
- ↑ 'Alethia' in Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language, with -eia pronounced as in 'Hygeia', 'apatheia', etc.
- ↑ "Small-Body Database Lookup". https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=259%20Aletheia.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Carry, B. (December 2012), "Density of asteroids", Planetary and Space Science 73 (1): 98–118, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009, Bibcode: 2012P&SS...73...98C. 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". http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/index_files/Page334.htm.
External links
- Lightcurve plot of (259) Aletheia , Antelope Hills Observatory
- The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database
- Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances
- Asteroid Lightcurve Data File
- 259 Aletheia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 259 Aletheia at the JPL Small-Body Database
 |  |
