516 Amherstia

516 Amherstia

A three-dimensional model of 516 Amherstia based on its light curve.
Discovery
Discovered by Raymond Smith Dugan
Discovery date September 20, 1903
Designations
Named after
Amherst College
1903 MG; 1938 YO
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch October 22, 2004 (JD 2453300.5)
Aphelion 510.608 Gm (3.413 AU)
Perihelion 291.483 Gm (1.948 AU)
401.045 Gm (2.681 AU)
Eccentricity 0.273
1603.247 d (4.39 a)
17.85 km/s
139.799°
Inclination 12.956°
328.912°
258.439°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 73.1 km; 69.84 ± 4.38[2] km
Mass (1.43 ± 1.33) × 1018[2] kg 4.1×1017 kg
0.0204 m/s²
0.0386 km/s
0.312 d 1
Albedo 0.163–0.173 2
Temperature ~167 K
Spectral type
M-type asteroid
8.27

    516 Amherstia was the 8th asteroid discovered by Raymond Smith Dugan, and was named after Amherst College, his alma mater. Amherstia is a large M-type asteroid, with an estimated diameter of 73 km. It follows an eccentric orbit between Jupiter and Mars, with an orbital period of 4.39 years.

    In 1989, the asteroid was observed from the Collurania-Teramo Observatory, allowing a light curve to be produced that showed an estimated rotation period of 7.49 hours and a brightness variation of 0.25 ± 0.01 in magnitude.[3]

    References

    1. Yeomans, Donald K., "516 Amherstia", JPL Small-Body Database Browser (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), retrieved 2013-03-25.
    2. 2.0 2.1 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. Dotto, E. et al. (June 1992), "M-type asteroids - Rotational properties of 16 objects", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series 95 (2): 195–211, Bibcode:1992A&AS...95..195D.