Astronomy:23 Thalia

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Short description: Main-belt asteroid
23 Thalia
23Thalia (Lightcurve Inversion).png
A three-dimensional model of 23 Thalia based on its light curve.
Discovery
Discovered byJ. R. Hind
Discovery dateDecember 15, 1852
Designations
(23) Thalia
Pronunciation/θəˈl.ə/[1]
Named afterThalia
1938 CL; 1974 QT2
Minor planet categoryMain belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5)
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}484.663 Gm (3.240 AU)
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}301.483 Gm (2.015 AU)
393.073 Gm (2.628 AU)
Eccentricity0.233
Orbital period1555.679 d (4.26 a)
Mean anomaly328.687°
Inclination10.145°
Longitude of ascending node67.228°
59.311°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions107.5 ± 2.2 km (IRAS)[2]
106.81 ± 3.23 km[3]
Mass(1.96 ± 0.09) × 1018 kg[3]
Mean density3.07 ± 0.31 g/cm3[3]
Rotation period12.312 h[2]
Geometric albedo0.2536 (geometric)[4]
S[2]
Apparent magnitude9.11 to 13.19
Absolute magnitude (H)6.95[2]


Thalia[5] (minor planet designation: 23 Thalia) is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by J. R. Hind on December 15, 1852, at the private observatory of W. Bishop, located in Hyde Park, London, England.[6] Bishop named it after Thalia, the Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry in Greek mythology.[7]

It is categorized as an S-type asteroid consisting of mainly of iron- and magnesium-silicates. This the second most common type of asteroid in the main belt. Based on analysis of the light curve, the object has a sidereal rotation period of 0.513202 ± 0.000002 days. An ellipsoidal model of the light curve gives an a/b ratio of 1.28 ± 0.05.[8]

With a semimajor axis of 2.628, the asteroid is orbiting between the 3:1 and 5:2 Kirkwood gaps in the main belt.[9] Its orbital eccentricity is larger than the median value of 0.07 for the main belt, and the inclination is larger than the median of below 4°. But most of the main-belt asteroids have an eccentricity of no more than 0.4 and an inclination of up to 30°, so the orbit of 23 Thalia is not unusual for a main-belt asteroid.[10]

Thalia has been studied by radar.[11]

References

  1. Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 23 Thalia". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 2011-04-30. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=23. Retrieved 2012-01-28. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Carry, B. (December 2012), "Density of asteroids", Planetary and Space Science 73: pp. 98–118, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009, Bibcode2012P&SS...73...98C.  See Table 1.
  4. "Albedos Data Table". Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu/pds/asteroid/EAR_A_5_DDR_ALBEDOS_V1_1/data/albedos.tab. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
  5. Stressed on the second syllable, /θəˈl.ə/.
  6. Lardner, Dionysius (1858). Hand-books of natural philosophy and astronomy. 3. Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea. p. 315. https://books.google.com/books?id=93IAAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
  7. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of minor planet names (5th ed.). Springer. p. 17. ISBN 3-540-00238-3. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryminorp00schm. 
  8. Lagerkvist, C.-I. (October 1995). "Physical studies of asteroids. XXIX. Photometry and analysis of 27 asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement 113: 115–122. Bibcode1995A&AS..113..115L. 
  9. Yeomans, Donald K.. "Asteroid Main-Belt Distribution". NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratoty. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?histo_a_ast. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
  10. Williams, Gareth (April 3, 2007). "Distribution of the Minor Planets". Minor Planets Center. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070321171649/http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/MPDistribution.html. Retrieved 2007-04-15. 
  11. "Radar-Detected Asteroids and Comets". NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research. http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 

External links