81 Terpsichore

81 Terpsichore
Discovery
Discovered by Ernst Wilhelm Tempel
Discovery date September 30, 1864
Designations
MPC designation (81) Terpsichore
Named after
 Terpsichore
 
Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion 516.955 Gm (3.456 AU)
Perihelion 337.132 Gm (2.254 AU)
427.044 Gm (2.855 AU)
Eccentricity 0.211
1761.647 d (4.82 a)
17.43 km/s
149.581°
Inclination 7.809°
1.497°
50.234°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 121.77 ± 2.34 km[1]
Mass (6.19 ± 5.31) × 1018 kg[1]
Mean density
 6.54 ± 5.62[1] g/cm3
0.0333 m/s²
0.0630 km/s
10.943 hr
Albedo 0.051 [2]
Temperature ~165 (C?)
Spectral type
 C
8.48

    81 Terpsichore (/tərpˈsɪkəriː/ tərp-SIK-ə-ree) is a large and very dark main-belt asteroid. It has most probably a very primitive carbonaceous composition. It was found by the prolific comet discoverer Ernst Tempel on September 30, 1864. It is named after Terpsichore, the Muse of dance in Greek mythology.

    A space station orbiting 81 Terpsichore is the main setting in the science fiction story The Dark Colony (Asteroid Police Book 1) by Richard Penn.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 Carry, B. (December 2012), "Density of asteroids", Planetary and Space Science, 73, pp. 98–118, Bibcode:2012P&SS...73...98C, arXiv:1203.4336 Freely accessible, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009. See Table 1.
    2. ↑ Asteroid Data Sets Archived 2010-01-17 at WebCite


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