44 Nysa
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Discovery
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| Discovered by | H. Goldschmidt |
| Discovery date | May 27, 1857 |
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Designations
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| Alternate name(s) | 1977 CE |
| Minor planet category |
Main belt (Nysa) |
| Epoch 2008-05-14 (JD 2454600.5) | |
| Aphelion | 2.7829123518 ± 3.6627e-09 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.06469721 ± 1.3862e-07 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 2.4238047855 ± 3.1901e-09 AU |
| Eccentricity | .148158617 ± 5.7499e-08 |
| Orbital period | 3.77 ± 7.45e-09 a |
| Average orbital speed | 19.13 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 118.743236 ± 2.4281e-05° |
| Inclination | 3.7028885 ± 6.2628e-06° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 131.59519 ± 1.0657e-04° |
| Argument of perihelion | 342.52066 ± 1.0904e-04° |
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Physical characteristics
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| Dimensions | 113 ± 10 × 67 ± 10 × 65 ± 12 km[2] |
| Mass | 3.7×1017 kg |
| Mean density | 2.0 g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity | 0.0197 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 0.0373 km/s |
| Rotation period | 6.421417 ± 0.000001 h[3] |
| Pole ecliptic latitude | +58 ± 3°[3] |
| Pole ecliptic longitude | 98 ± 2°[3] |
| Albedo | 0.44 ± 0.10 (vis.)[2] 0.19 ± 0.06 (rad.)[2] |
| Temperature | ~151 K |
| Spectral type | E[3] |
| Apparent magnitude | 8.83 to 12.46 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 7.03[1] |
| Angular diameter | 0.09" to 0.026" |
44 Nysa ( /ˈnaɪsə/) is a large and very bright main-belt asteroid, and the brightest member of the Nysian asteroid family. It is classified as a rare class E asteroid and is probably the largest of this type (though 55 Pandora is only slightly smaller).
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Discovery
It was discovered by H. Goldschmidt on May 27, 1857, and named after the mythical land of Nysa in Greek mythology.
Physical properties
In 2002 Kaasalainen et al. used 63 lightcurves from the Uppsala Asteroid Photometric Catalog (UAPC) to construct a shape model of 44 Nysa. The shape model is conical, which they interpreted as indicating the asteroid may actually be a contact binary.[3]
In 2003, Tanga et al. published results obtained from the Fine Guidance Sensor on the Hubble Space Telescope in which high-precision interferometry was performed on Nysa with the goal of a more accurate shape determination. Due to Hubble's orbit around the Earth, hours-long photometry sessions, as are normally used to resolve the asteroid's shape, were not possible. Instead the team used interferometry on the asteroid at the time in its rotation when it would have its longest axis perpendicular to the Earth. Ellipsoidal shape models were then fit to the resulting data to determine an estimate of the asteroid's shape. Both single and double ellipsoid models were fit to the data with both providing approximately the same goodness of fit; leaving the team unable to differentiate between a single elongated object and the contact binary model put forth by Kaasalainen et al.[4]
In December 2006, Shepard et al. performed three days of radar observations on Nysa with the Arecibo radio telescope. The asteroid was found to have a high radar polarization value (μc) of 0.50 ± 0.2, a radar albedo (
) of 0.19 ± 0.06, and a visual albedo (pv) of 0.44 ± 0.10.[2] The albedo measurements were based on a shape model worked out at Arecibo. The best fit shape model as measured by the Arecibo team has parameters a/b = 1.7 ± 0.1, a/c = 1.6–1.9, with an a-axis of 113 ± 10 km; this gives an effective diameter of 79 ± 10 km, which is in agreement with the HST study by Tanga et al. in 2003.[2] The data gathered also showed signs of significant concavity in Nysa's structure, but the dip in the radar curves is not pronounced enough to indicate bifurcation, calling into question whether or not Nysa really is a contact binary.[2]
Nysa has so far been reported occulting a star twice.
See also
References
- ^ a b NASA JPL Small-Body Database Browser on 44 Nysa
- ^ a b c d e f Shepard, M.; et al. (May 2008). "Radar observations of E-class Asteroids 44 Nysa and 434 Hungaria". Icarus 195 (1): 220–225. Bibcode 2008Icar..195..220S. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2007.12.018.
- ^ a b c d e Kaasalainen, M.; Torppa, J.; Piironen, J. (March 2002). "Binary structures among large asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics 383 (3): L19–L22. Bibcode 2002A&A...383L..19K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020015.
- ^ Tanga, P.; et al. (April 2003). "Asteroid observations with the Hubble Space Telescope. II. Duplicity search and size measurements for 6 asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics 401 (2): 733–741. Bibcode 2003A&A...401..733T. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20030032.
Further reading
- Harris, A.W.; et al. (October 1989). "Phase relations of high albedo asteroids: The unusual opposition brightening of 44 Nysa and 64 Angelina". Icarus 81 (2): 365–374. Bibcode 1989Icar...81..365H. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(89)90057-2.
External links
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