55 Pandora
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.png)
A three-dimensional model of 55 Pandora
based on its light curve. |
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | George Mary Searle |
| Discovery site | Albany, New York |
| Discovery date | September 10, 1858 |
| Designations | |
|
Named after
|
Pandora |
| Main belt | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch June 27, 2015 | |
| Aphelion | 3.152 AU (471.5 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.367 AU (354.1 Gm) |
| 2.760 AU (412.9 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.142 |
| 4.58 yr (1,674 d) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
17.84 km/s |
| 61.834° | |
| Inclination | 7.186° |
| 10.432° | |
| 3.944° | |
| Proper orbital elements | |
|
Proper mean motion
|
78.471 deg / yr |
|
Proper orbital period
|
4.58768 yr (1675.651 d) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 66.7 km |
| Mass | 3.1×1017 kg |
| 0.0186 m/s² | |
| 0.0353 km/s | |
| 4.8040 h [1] | |
| Albedo | 0.301 [1] |
| Temperature | ~ 168 K |
|
Spectral type
|
E |
| 7.7 | |
55 Pandora is a fairly large and very bright asteroid in the asteroid belt. Pandora was discovered by American astronomer and catholic priest George Mary Searle on September 10, 1858 from the Dudley Observatory near Albany, NY.[2] It was his first and only asteroid discovery.
It is named after Pandora, the first woman in Greek mythology, who unwisely opened a box that released evil into the world. The name was apparently chosen by Blandina Dudley, widow of the founder of the Dudley Observatory, who had been involved in an acrimonious dispute with astronomer B. A. Gould. Gould felt that the name had an "apt significance".[3] The asteroid shares its name with Pandora, a moon of Saturn.
Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Rozhen Observatory in Bulgaria during 2010 gave a light curve with a period of 4.7992 hours and a brightness variation of Δm=0.22 mag. This is consistent with a period of 4.804 hours and an amplitude of 0.24 obtained during a 1977 study.[4]
Recent analysis has identified Pandora as the second-largest of the E-type asteroids, after 44 Nysa.[citation needed]
See also
References
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