277 Elvira

277 Elvira
Discovery
Discovered by Auguste Charlois
Discovery date May 3, 1888
Designations
Minor planet
category
Main belt (Koronis)
Epoch 30 January 2005 (JD 2453400.5)
Aphelion 470.106 Gm (3.142 AU)
Perihelion 393.543 Gm (2.631 AU)
Semi-major axis 431.825 Gm (2.887 AU)
Eccentricity 0.089
Orbital period 1791.278 d (4.9 a)
Average orbital speed 17.53 km/s
Mean anomaly 145.516°
Inclination 1.156°
Longitude of ascending node 231.771°
Argument of perihelion 134.12°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 27.0 km
Mass unknown
Mean density unknown
Equatorial surface gravity unknown
Escape velocity unknown
Rotation period unknown
Albedo unknown
Temperature unknown
Spectral type unknown
Absolute magnitude (H) 9.84

277 Elvira is a typical main belt asteroid and a member of the Koronis asteroid family.

It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on May 3, 1888 in Nice. (277) Elvira is possibly named for a character in Alphonse de Lamartine’s Méditations poétiques (1820) and Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (1830).[1]

A group of astronomers, including Lucy D’Escoffier Crespo da Silva and Richard P. Binzel, used observations made between 1998 through 2000 to determine the spin-vector alignment of the Koronis family of asteroids, including 277 Elvira. The collaborative work resulted in the creation of 61 new individual rotation lightcurves to augment previous published observations.[2]

References

  1. ^ Schmadel Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (fifth edition), Springer, 2003. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
  2. ^ Slivan, S. M., Binzel, R. P., Crespo da Silva, L. D., Kaasalainen, M., Lyndaker, M. M., Krco, M.: “Spin vectors in the Koronis family: comprehensive results from two independent analyses of 213 rotation lightcurves,”Icarus, 162, 2003, pp. 285-307.