40 Harmonia

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40 Harmonia
40Harmonia (Lightcurve Inversion).png
A three-dimensional model of 40 Harmonia based on its light curve.
Discovery
Discovered by H. Goldschmidt
Discovery date March 31, 1856
Designations
1950 XU
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion 355.021 Gm (2.373 AU)
Perihelion 323.537 Gm (2.163 AU)
339.279 Gm (2.268 AU)
Eccentricity 0.046
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19.77 km/s
249.120°
Inclination 4.256°
94.287°
268.988°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 107.6 km
Mass ~1.3×1018 kg
Mean density
2.0? g/cm³
~0.0301 m/s²
~0.0569 km/s
0.3712 d (8.909 h)[2]
Albedo 0.242 (geometric)[3]
Temperature ~177 K
Spectral type
S
9.31 (brightest)
7.0

40 Harmonia /hɑːrˈmniə/ is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on March 31, 1856,[4] and named after Harmonia, the Greek goddess of harmony. The name was chosen to mark the end of the Crimean War.

The spectrum of 40 Harmonia matches an S-type in the Tholen classification system, and is similar to primitive achondrite meteorites.[5]

Photometric observations at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico during 2008–09 were used to generate a light curve that showed four unequal minima and maxima per cycle. The curve shows a period of 8.909 ± 0.001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This result is compatible with previous studies.[2]

Speckle interferometric observations carried out with the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory during 1982–84 failed to discover a satellite companion.[6] In 1988 a search for satellites or dust orbiting this asteroid was performed using the UH88 telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories, but the effort came up empty.[7]

References

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External links