2685 Masursky

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2685 Masursky
Masursky as seen by Cassini
Discovery
Discovered by Edward L. G. Bowell
Discovery date May 3, 1981
Designations
Alternative names 1950 VO; 1973 QF;
1975 XJ5; 1977 KU;
1981 JN
Minor planet
category		 Main belt (Eunomia family)
Epoch July 14, 2004 (JD 2453200.5)
Aphelion 426.737 Gm (2.853 AU)
Perihelion 341.603 Gm (2.283 AU)
Semi-major axis 384.170 Gm (2.568 AU)
Eccentricity 0.111
Orbital period 1503.127 d (4.12 a)
Average orbital speed 18.53 km/s
Mean anomaly 297.289°
Inclination 12.132°
Longitude of ascending node 215.437°
Argument of perihelion 289.057°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 15–20 km
Mass 0.5–1.1×1016 kg
Mean density ~2.7 g/cm³ (estimate)[1]
Equatorial surface gravity 0.006–0.007 m/s²
Escape velocity 0.009–0.012 km/s
Rotation period unknown
Albedo 0.06–0.11
Temperature ~176 K
max: 264K (-9° C)
Spectral type S-Type
Absolute magnitude 12.2

The asteroid 2685 Masursky is a main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Edward (Ted) Bowell in 1981. It was named after Harold Masursky (1923–1990), a planetary geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, who worked on numerous space missions.

Little was known about Masursky until the Cassini space probe, en route to Jupiter and Saturn, flew past it on 23 January 2000. Since Cassini passed the asteroid at a distance of 1.6 million kilometres (about four times the Earth-Moon distance), the images it returned showed nothing more than a dot. Nevertheless, Cassini was able to determine Masursky's size (about 15–20 km in diameter).

Masursky's orbit places it within the Eunomia family of S-type asteroids. Cassini's observations had cast some doubt on its composition, but later ground-based spectroscopy has confirmed its S-type spectrum [2].


[edit] References

  1. G. A. Krasinsky et al Hidden Mass in the Asteroid Belt, Icarus, Vol. 158, p. 98 (2002).
  2. D. Lazzaro, T. Mothé-Diniz, J. M. Carvano, C. A. Angeli, A. S. Betzler, M. Florczak, A. Cellino, M. Di Martino, A. Doressoundiram, M. A. Barucci, E. Dotto, P. Bendjoya (1999). "The Eunomia Family: A Visible Spectroscopic Survey". Icarus 142: 445. doi:10.1006/icar.1999.6213. 
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