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Discovery
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| Discovered by | Purple Mountain Observatory |
| Discovery date | December 7, 1980 |
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Designations
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| Named after | Purple Mountain Observatory |
| Alternate name(s) | 1980 XW; 1962 WV1; 1969 UD; 1972 OA |
| Minor planet category |
Main belt (Vesta family) |
| Epoch November 26, 2005 (JD 2453700.5) | |
| Aphelion | 397.281 Gm (2.656 AU) |
| Perihelion | 305.825 Gm (2.044 AU) |
| Semi-major axis | 351.553 Gm (2.350 AU) |
| Eccentricity | 0.130 |
| Orbital period | 1315.820 d (3.60 a) |
| Average orbital speed | 19.35 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 86.279° |
| Inclination | 5.837° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 234.559° |
| Argument of perihelion | 72.282° |
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Physical characteristics
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| Dimensions | ? |
| Mass | ? |
| Mean density | ? |
| Equatorial surface gravity | ? |
| Escape velocity | ? |
| Rotation period | ? |
| Albedo | ? |
| Temperature | ~182 K (estimate) |
| Spectral type | V-type asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.7 |
3494 Purple Mountain is a small main belt asteroid. It is not purple; its unusual name comes from the Purple Mountain Observatory in China, where it was rediscovered in 1980 (it had been seen but lost, several times before, since 1962). (See lost asteroids)
Purple Mountain is of the Vesta family of asteroids, and is a fragment chipped off the very large asteroid 4 Vesta by the impact that formed this family. A spectroscopic analysis showed it to have a composition very similar to the cumulate eucrite meteorites[1].
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