317 Roxane is a main belt asteroid, about 19km in diameter. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois from Nice on September 11, 1891. The name was chosen by F. Bidschof, an assistant at the Vienna Observatory, at Charlois's request; Bidschof chose to name it after Roxana, the wife of Alexander the Great, and at first used the spelling Roxana.[1][2]
In 2008, a team identified Roxane as the closest known spectroscopic match for the Peña Blanca Spring meteorite that landed in a swimming pool in Texas in 1946. There is a possibility, therefore, that 317 Roxane is from the same parent object as this meteorite.[3]
In 2009, a team using the Gemini-North adaptive optics telescope discovered a moon orbiting Roxane. The moon is provisionally named S/2009 (317) 1. It measures 5km in diameter and orbits 245km from Roxane, completing one orbit every 13 days.[4]
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References
- ↑ Lutz D. Schmadel, Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, p. 42
- ↑ Charlois, A.; Benennung von kleinen Planeten, Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol. 132, No. 3155, p. 175
- ↑ Fornasier, S. et al.; Visible and near infrared spectroscopic investigation of E-type asteroids, including 2867 Šteins, a target of the Rosetta mission, Icarus, Vol. 196, No. 1, p. 119-134
- ↑ Wm. Robert Johnson, "(317) Roxane and S/2009 (317) 1, Johnston's Archive. 11 Dec 2009. Accessed 1 Jan 2012.
