789 Lena

789 Lena
Discovery
Discovered by G. N. Neujmin
Discovery site Simeis
Discovery date June 24, 1914
Designations
1914 UU; 1970 CE
Orbital characteristics
Epoch August 18, 2005 (JDCT 2453600.5)
Aphelion 3.081 AU
Perihelion 2.288 AU
2.684 AU
Eccentricity 0.148
4.398 a
251.456°
Inclination 10.803°
232.837°
42.261°
Physical characteristics
5.85[1] h

    789 Lena is a medium-sized X-type asteroid orbiting in the Main belt near the Eunomia family. However, true family members have an S-type composition, so it is almost certainly an unrelated interloper. Observations made in 1995 appeared to show that Lena has an unusual lightcurve,[2] which indicated that it is either a very slow rotator (with period well over 22 hours), very irregular shaped, or both.

    Photometric observations at the Oakley Observatory in Terre Haute, Indiana during 2007 were used to build an updated light curve for 789 Lena. The asteroid displayed a rotation period of 5.85 ± 0.05 hours and a brightness variation of 0.5 ± 0.01 in magnitude.[1]

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shipley, Heath et al. (September 2008), "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: September 2007", Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers 35 (3): 99–101, retrieved 2013-03-23.
    2. ↑ R. Gil-Hutton Research note: photometry of asteroids 359 Georgia and 789 Lena, Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Vol. 31, p. 143, (1995)

    External links