102 Miriam
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters |
| Discovery site | Litchfield Observatory |
| Discovery date | August 22, 1868 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 102 |
| Named after | Miriam |
| Minor planet category | main belt[2] |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch November 30, 2008 | |
| Aphelion | 3.3332 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9929 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 2.66303 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.251655 |
| Orbital period | 1587.31 days (4.35 years) |
| Mean anomaly | 108.084° |
| Inclination | 5.176° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 210.916° |
| Argument of perihelion | 147.441° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions |
83.00 kilometres (51.57 mi) ± 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) Mean diameter[4] |
| Rotation period | 15.789 hours[5] |
| Albedo | 0.0507 ± 0.002[4] |
| Spectral type |
P (Tholen classification)[6] C (SMASSII classification)[6] |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 9.26[7] |
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102 Miriam is a moderately large, very dark main belt asteroid. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on August 22, 1868 from the Litchfield Observatory.[1]
Peters named the asteroid after Miriam, the sister of Moses in the Old Testament. This caused some controversy, because at the time, asteroids were expected to be named after mythological figures, and the devout would not regard Biblical figures as such. According to fellow astronomer Edward S. Holden, Peters deliberately chose a name from the Bible so as to annoy an overly pious theology professor of his acquaintance.[8]
Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2007 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico were used to create a light curve plot. This showed a rotation period of 23.613 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.12 ± 0.02 magnitude. The curve shows three maxima and minima during each cycle.[9] This value for the period differs from the 15.789 hour estimate produced in a 2008 study.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000)". IAU: Minor Planet Center. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- ↑ "102 Miriam". JPL Small-Body Database. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- ↑ "(102) Miriam". AstDyS. Italy: University of Pisa. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tedesco et al. (2004). "Supplemental IRAS Minor Planet Survey (SIMPS)". IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Planetary Data System. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Johnson (2008). "Lightcurve Analysis of 102 Miriam, 1433 Geramtina, and 2648 Owa". The Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (4): 151–152. Bibcode:2008MPBu...35..150J.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Neese (2005). "Asteroid Taxonomy". EAR-A-5-DDR-TAXONOMY-V5.0. Planetary Data System. Archived from the original on January 16, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
- ↑ Tholen (2007). "Asteroid Absolute Magnitudes". EAR-A-5-DDR-ASTERMAG-V11.0. Planetary Data System. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- ↑ Lutz D. Schmadel, Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, p. 25.
- ↑ Pilcher, Frederick (June 2008), "Period Determination for 84 Klio, 98 Ianthe, 102 Miriam 112 Iphigenia, 131 Vala, and 650 Amalasuntha", Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers 35 (2): 71–72, Bibcode:2008MPBu...35...71P, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009.
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