3908 Nyx

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3908 Nyx
Discovery
Discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster
Discovery date August 6, 1980
Designations
Alternative names 1980 PA; 1988 XB1
Minor planet
category
Amor; Mars-crosser
Epoch June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5)
Aphelion 420.707 Gm (2.812 AU)
Perihelion 156.151 Gm (1.044 AU)
Semi-major axis 288.429 Gm (1.928 AU)
Eccentricity 0.459
Orbital period 977.843 d (2.68 a)
Average orbital speed 20.27 km/s
Mean anomaly 218.206°
Inclination 2.180°
Longitude of ascending node 261.560°
Argument of perihelion 126.177°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 1.04 ± 0.16 km
Mass 1.0–8.4×1012 kg
Mean density 2.0? g/cm³
Equatorial surface gravity 0.0003–0.0006 m/s²
Escape velocity 0.0005–0.0011 km/s
Rotation period 4.42601 h
Albedo 0.10?
Temperature ~200? K
Spectral type V
Absolute magnitude 17.4

3908 Nyx is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster on August 6, 1980, and is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, after which Pluto's moon Nix is also named. It is 1-2 km in diameter and is a V-type asteroid, meaning that it may be a fragment of the asteroid 4 Vesta.

In 2000, radar observations conducted at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories produced a model of Nyx' shape; the asteroid can best be described as spherical but with many protruding lumps.