93 Minerva

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93 Minerva
Discovery
Discovered by James Craig Watson
Discovery date August 24, 1867
Designations
Alternative names  
Minor planet
category
Main belt
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion 470.348 Gm (3.144 AU)
Perihelion 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)
Average 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-nerr'-və, IPA: /mɨˈnɝvə/) 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.[2]

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