93 Minerva

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93 Minerva
Discovery
Discovered by: James Craig Watson
Discovery date: August 24, 1867
Alternative names:  
Minor planet category: Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion distance: 470.348 Gm (3.144 AU)
Perihelion distance: 353.703 Gm (2.364 AU)
Semi-major axis: 412.026 Gm (2.754 AU)
Eccentricity: 0.142
Orbital period: 1669.541 d (4.57 a)
Avg. orbital speed: 17.86 km/s
Mean anomaly: 226.139°
Inclination: 8.557°
Longitude of ascending node: 4.148°
Argument of perihelion: 275.747°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions: 141.0 km
Mass: 2.9×1018 kg
Mean density: ? g/cm³
Equatorial surface gravity: 0.0394 m/s²
Escape velocity: 0.0745 km/s
Rotation period: ? d
Albedo: 0.088 [1]
Temperature: ~168 K
Spectral type: C?
Absolute magnitude: 7.7

93 Minerva (mi-nur'-va) is a large main belt asteroid. It is a C-type asteroid, meaning that it has a dark surface and possibly a primitive carbonaceous composition. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on August 24, 1867 and named after Minerva, the Roman equivalent of Athena, goddess of wisdom. An occultation of a star by Minerva was observed in France, Spain and the United States on November 22, 1982. An occultation diameter of ~170 km was measured from the observations. Since then two more occultations have been observed, which give an estimated mean diameter of ~150 km for diameter. [1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.psi.edu/pds/resource/albedo.html
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