20 Massalia
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| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Annibale de Gasparis |
| Discovery date: | September 19, 1852 |
| Alternative names: | none |
| Minor planet category: | Main belt (Massalia family) |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch October 22, 2004 (JD 2453300.5) | |
| Aphelion distance: | 411.911 Gm (2.753 AU) |
| Perihelion distance: | 308.699 Gm (2.064 AU) |
| Semi-major axis: | 360.305 Gm (2.408 AU) |
| Eccentricity: | 0.143 |
| Orbital period: | 1365.261 d (3.74 a) |
| Avg. orbital speed: | 19.09 km/s |
| Mean anomaly: | 161.641° |
| Inclination: | 0.707° |
| Longitude of ascending node: | 206.530° |
| Argument of perihelion: | 255.578° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions: | 160×145×130 km [1][2] |
| Mass: | 5.2×1018 kg [3] |
| Mean density: | 3.2 g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity: | 0.054 m/s² |
| Escape velocity: | 0.093 km/s |
| Rotation period: | 0.3374 d (8.098 h) [4] |
| Albedo: | 0.210 [1] |
| Temperature: | ~174 K max: 265 K (-8°C) |
| Spectral type: | S [4] |
| Absolute magnitude: | 6.50 |
20 Massalia (IPA: [məˈseɪliə]) is a large and fairly bright Main belt asteroid. It is also the largest member of the Massalia family of asteroids.
Contents |
[edit] Characteristics
Massalia is an S-type asteroid. It orbits at very low inclination in the intermediate main belt, and is by far the largest asteroid in the Massalia family. The remaining family members are fragments ejected by a cratering event on Massalia [5].
Massalia has an above-average density for S-type asteroids, similar to the density of silicate rocks. As such, it appears to be a solid un-fractured body, a rarity among asteroids of its size. Apart from the few largest bodies over 400 km in diameter, such as 1 Ceres and 4 Vesta, most asteroids appear to have been significantly fractured, or are even rubble piles.
Lightcurve analysis indicates that Massalia's pole points towards either ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (45°, 10°) or (β, λ) = (45°, 190°) with a 10° uncertainty [2]. This gives an axial tilt of 45°in both cases. The shape reconstruction from lightcurves has been described as quite spherical with large planar, nonconvex parts of the surface.
[edit] Discovery
Massalia was discovered by A. de Gasparis on September 19, 1852, and also found independently the next night by J. Chacornac. It was Chacornac's discovery that was announced first.
Massalia is the Latin name for Marseille, where Chacornac made his discovery (de Gasparis was observing from Naples).
[edit] External links
- shape model deduced from lightcurve
- Orbital elements for bright asteroids from the Minor Planet Center.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Supplemental IRAS Minor Planet Survey
- ^ a b M. Kaasalainen et al (2002). "Models of Twenty Asteroids from Photometric Data". Icarus 159: 369.
- ^ J. Bange (1998). "An estimation of the mass of asteroid 20-Massalia derived from the HIPPARCOS minor planets data". Astronomy & Astrophysics 340: L1.
- ^ a b PDS lightcurve data
- ^ D. Vokrouhlický et al (2006). "Yarkovsky/YORP chronology of asteroid families". Icarus 182: 118.
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|---|---|---|
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| List of asteroids | ||
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.
