3494 Purple Mountain
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Discovery A | |
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Discoverer | Purple Mountain Observatory |
Discovery date | December 7, 1980 |
Alternate designations B |
1980 XW; 1962 WV1; 1969 UD; 1972 OA |
Category | Main belt (Vesta family) |
Orbital elements C | |
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Eccentricity (e) | 0.130 |
Semi-major axis (a) | 351.553 Gm (2.350 AU) |
Perihelion (q) | 305.825 Gm (2.044 AU) |
Aphelion (Q) | 397.281 Gm (2.656 AU) |
Orbital period (P) | 1315.820 d (3.60 a) |
Mean orbital speed | 19.35 km/s |
Inclination (i) | 5.837° |
Longitude of the ascending node (Ω) |
234.559° |
Argument of perihelion (ω) |
72.282° |
Mean anomaly (M) | 86.279° |
Physical characteristics D | |
Dimensions | ? |
Mass | ? |
Density | ? |
Surface gravity | ? |
Escape velocity | ? |
Rotation period | ? |
Spectral class | V-type asteroid |
Absolute magnitude | 12.7 |
Albedo (geometric) | ? |
Mean surface temperature |
~182 K (estimate) |
3494 Purple Mountain is a small main belt asteroid. It is not purple; its unusual name comes from the Purple Mountain Observatory in China, where it was rediscovered in 1980 (it had been seen but lost, several times before, since 1962).
Purple Mountain is of the Vesta family of asteroids, and is a fragment chipped off the very large asteroid 4 Vesta by the impact that formed this family. A spectroscopic analysis showed it to have a composition very similar to the cumulate eucrite meteorites[1].
Minor planets | ||
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Previous minor planet | 3494 Purple Mountain | Next minor planet |
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Vulcanoids | Near-Earth asteroids | Main belt | Jupiter Trojans | Centaurs | Damocloids | Comets | Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt · Scattered disc · Oort cloud) |
For other objects and regions, see: asteroid groups and families, binary asteroids, asteroid moons and the Solar system For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names. |