Astronomy:341 California

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Short description: Main-belt asteroid
341 California
000341-asteroid shape model (341) California.png
Shape model of California
Discovery
Discovered byMax Wolf
Discovery siteHeidelberg Obs.
Discovery date25 September 1892
Designations
(341) California
Named afterCalifornia
1892 J; 1979 FY2
Minor planet categoryMain belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc113.45 yr (41,439 d)
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.62698 astronomical unit|AU (392.991 Gm)
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}1.77187 AU (265.068 Gm)
2.19943 AU (329.030 Gm)
Eccentricity0.19439
Orbital period3.26 yr (1,191.4 d)
Mean anomaly15.6325°
Mean motion0° 18m 7.783s / day
Inclination5.66900°
Longitude of ascending node29.0469°
293.875°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions14.67±0.9 km[1]
15 km [2]
Mean density~2.7 g/cm3[3]
Rotation period317.88 h (13.25 d)
Geometric albedo0.4950±0.064[1]
0.495 [2]
S[4]
Asteroid familyFlora family
Absolute magnitude (H)10.55


California (minor planet designation: 341 California) is an asteroid belonging to the Flora family in the Main Belt. It was discovered by Max Wolf on 25 September 1892 in Heidelberg, and is named for the U.S. state of California .[5] This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.20 astronomical unit|AU with a period of 3.26 yr and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.19. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 5.7° to the plane of the ecliptic.[1]

The very slow rotation rate of this asteroid favors collecting photometric data for an extended period in order to measure the period. Data collected from June to December 2016 was used to produce a light curve showing a rotation period of 317.88±0.06 h with a brightness variation of 0.9 in magnitude. It is tumbling with a period of 250±2 h.[6] It has an unusually high albedo.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "341 California (1892 J)". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=341. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Supplemental IRAS Minor Planet Survey". Planetary Data System. Planetary Science Institute. June 23, 2006. http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/astdata04/simps04/diamalb.tab. 
  3. Krasinsky, G. A. et al. (2002). "Hidden Mass in the Asteroid Belt". Icarus 158: 98–105. doi:10.1006/icar.2002.6837. Bibcode2002Icar..158...98K. 
  4. PDS spectral class data
  5. Peebles, Curtis (2016), Asteroids: a History, Smithsonian, p. 159, ISBN 9781944466046, https://books.google.com/books?id=RbDkCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT159 
  6. Pilcher, Frederick; Franco, Lorenzo; Pravec, Petr (April 2017), "319 Leona and 341 California - Two Very Slowly Rotating Asteroids", Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers 44 (2): 87–90, Bibcode2017MPBu...44...87P. 

External links