93 Minerva
Minerva (minor planet designation: 93 Minerva) is a large trinary main-belt asteroid. It is a C-type asteroid, meaning that it has a dark surface and possibly a primitive carbonaceous composition. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on 24 August 1867, and named after Minerva, the Roman equivalent of Athena, goddess of wisdom. An occultation of a star by Minerva was observed in France, Spain and the United States on 22 November 1982. An occultation diameter of ~170 km was measured from the observations. Since then two more occultations have been observed, which give an estimated mean diameter of ~150 km for diameter.
A three-dimensional model of 93 Minerva based on its light curve. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | James Craig Watson |
| Discovery site | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Discovery date | 24 August 1867 |
| Designations | |
| (93) Minerva | |
| Pronunciation | /mɪˈnɜːrvə/ |
Named after | Minerva |
| 1949 QN2, A902 DA | |
| Main belt | |
| Adjectives | Minervian, Minervean /mɪˈnɜːrviən/ |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 146.14 yr (53379 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.1429 AU (470.17 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.3711 AU (354.71 Gm) |
| 2.7570 AU (412.44 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.13998 |
| 4.58 yr (1672.0 d) | |
Average orbital speed | ~17.86 km/s |
| 262.022° | |
| 0° 12m 55.116s / day | |
| Inclination | 8.56143° |
| 4.06265° | |
| 274.543° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 141.55±4.0 km (IRAS) 156km (spherical) |
| Mass | 3.7×1018 kg (assumed) |
Mean density | 1.9 g/cm3 |
Equatorial surface gravity | 4.139 cm/s2 (0.004221 g) |
Equatorial escape velocity | 8.035 cm/s |
| 5.982 h (0.2493 d) | |
| 0.0733±0.004 | |
| C G? | |
| 8.0 | |
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