23 Thalia

23 Thalia
Discovery
Discovered by J. R. Hind
Discovery date December 15, 1852
Designations
Pronunciation English pronunciation: /θəˈlaɪ.ə/
Named after Thalia
Alternate name(s) 1938 CL; 1974 QT2
Minor planet
category		 Main belt
Epoch June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5)
Aphelion 484.663 Gm (3.240 AU)
Perihelion 301.483 Gm (2.015 AU)
Semi-major axis 393.073 Gm (2.628 AU)
Eccentricity 0.233
Orbital period 1555.679 d (4.26 a)
Average orbital speed 18.12 km/s
Mean anomaly 328.687°
Inclination 10.145°
Longitude of ascending node 67.228°
Argument of perihelion 59.311°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 107.5 km
Mass 1.3×1018? kg
Mean density 2.0? g/cm³
Equatorial surface gravity 0.0300? m/s²
Escape velocity 0.0568? km/s
Rotation period 0.5128 d (12.308 h) [1]
Albedo 0.2536 (geometric)[2]
Temperature ~164 K
Spectral type S
Apparent magnitude 9.11 to 13.19
Absolute magnitude (H) 6.95

23 Thalia (Greek: Θάλεια) is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by J. R. Hind on December 15, 1852, at the private observatory of W. Bishop, located in Hyde Park, London, England.[3] Bishop named it after Thalia, the Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry in Greek mythology.[4]

It is categorized as an S-type asteroid consisting of mainly of iron- and magnesium-silicates. This the second most common type of asteroid in the main belt. Based on analysis of the light curve, the object has a sidereal rotation period of 0.513202 ± 0.000002 days. An ellipsoidal model of the light curve gives an a/b ratio of 1.28 ± 0.05.[5]

With a semimajor axis of 2.628, the asteroid is orbiting between the 3:1 and 5:2 Kirkwood gaps in the main belt.[6] Its orbital eccentricity is larger than the median value of 0.07 for the main belt, and the inclination is larger than the median of below 4°. But most of the main-belt asteroids have an eccentricity of no more than 0.4 and an inclination of up to 30°, so the orbit of 23 Thalia is not unusual for a main-belt asteroid.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Asteroid Lightcurve Paramaters". Planetary Science Institute. Archived from the original on 2006-06-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20060614093519/http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/lc.html. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
  2. ^ "Albedos Data Table". Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu/pds/asteroid/EAR_A_5_DDR_ALBEDOS_V1_1/data/albedos.tab. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
  3. ^ Hand-books of natural philosophy and astronomy. 3. Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea. 1858. p. 315. http://books.google.com/books?id=93IAAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
  4. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of minor planet names (5th ed.). Springer. p. 17. ISBN 3-540-00238-3. 
  5. ^ Lagerkvist, C.-I.; et al. (October 1995). "Physical studies of asteroids. XXIX. Photometry and analysis of 27 asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement 113: 115–122. Bibcode 1995A&AS..113..115L. 
  6. ^ Yeomans, Donald K.. "Asteroid Main-Belt Distribution". NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratoty. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?histo_a_ast. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
  7. ^ Williams, Gareth (April 3, 2007). "Distribution of the Minor Planets". Minor Planets Center. http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/MPDistribution.html. Retrieved 2007-04-15. 

External links

22 Kalliope•23 Thalia• 24 Themis
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