238 Hypatia

238 Hypatia
Discovery
Discovered by Viktor Knorre
Discovery date July 1, 1884
Designations
Named after
 Hypatia
1947 HA
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 30 January 2005 (JD 2453400.5)
Aphelion 473.399 Gm (3.164 AU)
Perihelion 396.128 Gm (2.648 AU)
434.763 Gm (2.906 AU)
Eccentricity 0.089
1809.596 d (4.95 a)
17.47 km/s
59.101°
Inclination 12.408°
184.2°
206.935°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 146.13 ± 2.66[2] km
Mass (4.90 ± 1.70) × 1018[2] kg
Mean density
 2.99 ± 1.05[2] g/cm3
8.86 h
Albedo 0.042
Spectral type
 C
8.18

    238 Hypatia is a very large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Russian astronomer Viktor Knorre on July 1, 1884, in Berlin. It was the third of his four asteroid discoveries. The name was given in honour of philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria. Based upon the spectrum, it is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous material. Like many asteroids of this type, its surface is very dark in colour.

    Photometric observations of this asteroid at the European Southern Observatory in 1981 gave a light curve with a period of 8.9 ± 0.1 hours and a brightness variation of 0.12 in magnitude.[3]

    References

    1. ↑ Yeomans, Donald K., "238 Hypatia", JPL Small-Body Database Browser (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), retrieved 2013-03-25.
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Carry, B. (December 2012), "Density of asteroids", Planetary and Space Science 73: 98–118, arXiv:1203.4336, Bibcode:2012P&SS...73...98C, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009. See Table 1.
    3. ↑ Schober, H. J. (January 1983), "Rotation periods and lightcurves of the asteroids 136 Austria and 238 Hypatia", Astronomy and Astrophysics 117 (2): 362–364, Bibcode:1983A&A...117..362S.

    External links