172 Baucis

172 Baucis
Discovery
Discovered by A. Borrelly
Discovery date February 5, 1877
Designations
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Aphelion 2.653 AU
Perihelion 2.105 AU
2.379 AU
Eccentricity 0.115
3.67 years
Inclination 10.04°
Physical characteristics
27.417[2] h
Albedo 0.138
Spectral type
 S
8.79

    172 Baucis is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly on February 5, 1877 and named after a fictional character in the Greek legend of Baucis and Philemon. The adjectival form of the name is Baucidian. It is classified as an S-type asteroid based upon its spectrum.

    Photometric observations of this asteroid from the southern hemisphere during 2003 gave a light curve that indicated a slow synodic rotation period of 27.417 ± 0.013 hours and a brightness variation of 0.25 in magnitude.[2]

    Polarimetric study of this asteroid reveals anomalous properties that suggests the regolith consists of a mixture of low and high albedo material. This may have been caused by fragmentation of an asteroid substrate with the spectral properties of CO3/CV3 carbonaceous chondrites.[3]

    References

    1. ↑ Yeomans, Donald K., "172 Baucis", JPL Small-Body Database Browser (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), retrieved 2013-03-30.
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bembrick, C. S. et al. (September 2004), "172 Baucis - a slow rotator", Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers 31 (3): 51–52, Bibcode:2004MPBu...31...51B.
    3. ↑ Gil-Hutton, R. et al. (April 2008), "New cases of unusual polarimetric behavior in asteroids", Astronomy and Astrophysics 482 (1): 309–314, Bibcode:2008A&A...482..309G, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078965.