View source for Astronomy:259 Aletheia

{{Short description|Large main-belt asteroid}}
{{Infobox planet
 | minorplanet     = yes
 | name            = 259 Aletheia
 | background      = #D6D6D6
| symbol= [[File:Aletheia symbol (fixed width).svg|24px|Astrological symbol]] 
 | image           = 
 | caption         = 
 | discovery_ref   = &thinsp;<ref name="jpldata" />
 | discovered      = 28 June 1886
 | discoverer      = C. H. F. Peters
 | discovery_site  = Litchfield Obs., Clinton
 | mpc_name        = (259) Aletheia
 | alt_names       = A886 MA, 1947 LD
 | pronounced      = {{IPAc-en|æ|l|@|'|θ|iː|ə}}<ref>'Alethia' in Noah Webster (1884) ''A Practical Dictionary of the English Language'', with ''-eia'' pronounced as in 'Hygeia', 'apatheia', etc.</ref>
 | adjective       = Aletheian
 | named_after     = Aletheia<ref name="springer" />
 | mp_category     = main-belt
 | orbit_ref       = &thinsp;<ref name="jpldata" />
 | epoch           = 27 June 2015 ([[Astronomy:Julian day|JD]] 2457200.5)
 | uncertainty     = 0
 | observation_arc = {{nowrap|117.00 yr (42,736 days)}}&nbsp;
 | aphelion        = 3.5353 [[Astronomy:Astronomical unit|AU]]
 | perihelion      = 2.7347 AU
 | semimajor       = 3.1350 AU
 | eccentricity    = 0.1276
 | period          = 5.55 [[Astronomy:Julian year|yr]] (2027.5 days)
 | mean_anomaly    = 71.260[[Degree (angle)|°]]
 | inclination     = 10.813°
 | asc_node        = 86.864°
 | arg_peri        = 168.07°
 | moid            = 1.7207 AU
 | dimensions      = {{val|174.32|1.05|u=km}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=259%20Aletheia | title=Small-Body Database Lookup }}</ref><br />{{val|190.05|6.82}} km<ref name="Carry2012"/>
 | mass            = {{val|7.79|0.43|e=18}} kg<ref name="Carry2012"/>
 | density         = 2.16 ± 0.26<ref name="Carry2012"/> g/cm<sup>3</sup>
 | rotation        = 8.143 [[Hour|h]]
 | albedo          = 0.0436
 | spectral_type   = B–V = 0.698<br />U–B = 0.311<br />CP {{small|(Tholen)}}, [[Astronomy:X-type asteroid|X]] {{small|(SMASS)}}
 | abs_magnitude   = 7.76
}}

'''Aletheia''' ([[Astronomy:Minor planet designation|minor planet designation]]: '''259 Aletheia''') is a very large main-belt [[Astronomy:Asteroid|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 [[Astronomy:X-type asteroid|X-type]] (Tholen: [[Astronomy:C-type asteroid|C]][[Astronomy:P-type asteroid|P]]-type) asteroid contains primitive [[Chemistry:Carbonate|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&nbsp;[[Astronomy:Astronomical unit|AU]] and an orbit inclined by 11 degrees with a period of 5.55 years.<ref name="jpldata" />

[[Biography:Richard P. Binzel|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.<ref>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.</ref><ref>[http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi#top JPL Small-Body Database Browser<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hill Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the [[Organization:Minor Planet Center|Minor Planet Center]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/index_files/Page334.htm |title=Lightcurve Results<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=9 March 2008 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725043437/http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/index_files/Page334.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

It is named after the Greek goddess of truth, [[Philosophy:Veritas|Aletheia]], the daughter of Zeus and one of the nurses of Apollo.<ref name="springer" />

== References ==
{{reflist
|refs=

<ref name="jpldata">{{cite web
  |type=2015-09-15 last obs.
  |title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 259 Aletheia
  |url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2000259
  |publisher=[[Organization:Jet Propulsion Laboratory|Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]
  |accessdate=14 October 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="springer">{{cite book
  |title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (259) Aletheia
  |last=Schmadel |first=Lutz D.
  |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg
  |page=38
  |date=2003
  |isbn=978-3-540-29925-7
  |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_260
 }}</ref>

<ref name="Carry2012">{{Citation
  |first1    = B.
  |last1     = Carry
  |title     = Density of asteroids
  |journal      = Planetary and Space Science
  |volume    = 73
  |issue = 1
 |pages     = 98–118
  |date      = December 2012
  |doi       = 10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009
  |bibcode   = 2012P&SS...73...98C
  |postscript= .
  |arxiv     = 1203.4336 |s2cid = 119226456
 }} See Table 1.</ref>

}} <!-- end of reflist -->

== External links ==
* [http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/lightcurves/259.gif Lightcurve plot of (259) Aletheia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913174104/http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/lightcurves/259.gif |date=13 September 2020 }}, Antelope Hills Observatory
* [http://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database]
* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances]
* [http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/parallax/phot/LCSUMPUB.TXT Asteroid Lightcurve Data File]
* {{AstDys|259}}
* {{JPL small body}}

{{Small Solar System bodies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:000259}}
[[Category:Background asteroids|000259]]
[[Category:Named minor planets|Aletheia]]

{{Sourceattribution|259 Aletheia}}