81 Terpsichore

Last updated

81 Terpsichore
Orbita asteroida 81.png
Orbital diagram
Discovery
Discovered by Ernst Wilhelm Tempel
Discovery dateSeptember 30, 1864
Designations
(81) Terpsichore
Pronunciation /tɜːrpˈsɪxərɛ/ [1]
Named after
Terpsichore
Main belt
Adjectives Terpsichorean /tɜːrpsɪxəˈrən/ [1]
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)
Average orbital speed
17.43 km/s
149.581°
Inclination 7.809°
1.497°
50.234°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions121.77 ± 2.34 km [2]
Mass (6.19 ± 5.31) × 1018 kg [2]
Mean density
6.54 ± 5.62 g/cm3 [2]
10.943 hr
0.051 [3]
C
8.48

    Terpsichore (minor planet designation: 81 Terpsichore) 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. [4] It is named after Terpsichore, the Muse of dance in Greek mythology.

    Contents

    Photometric observations of the minor planet in 2011 gave a rotation period of 10.945±0.001 h with an amplitude of 0.09±0.01 in magnitude. This result is consistent with previous determinations. [5] Two stellar occultation events involving this asteroid were observed from multiple sites in 2009. The resulting chords matched a smooth elliptical cross-section with dimensions of 134.0±4.0 km × 108.9±0.7 km. [6]

    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.

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">47 Aglaja</span> Main-belt asteroid

    47 Aglaja is a large, dark main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Robert Luther on 15 September 1857 from Düsseldorf. The name was chosen by the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn and refers to Aglaea, one of the Charites in Greek mythology. It was rendered Aglaia in English sources into the early 20th century, as 'i' and 'j' are equivalent in Latin names and in the Latin rendering of Greek names.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">49 Pales</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Pales is a large, dark main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on 19 September 1857 from his balcony in Paris. The asteroid is named after Pales, the goddess of shepherds in Roman mythology. Since it was discovered on the same night as 48 Doris, geologist Élie de Beaumont suggested naming the two "The Twins".

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">74 Galatea</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Galatea is a large C-type main-belt asteroid. Its carbonaceous surface is very dark in color with an albedo of just 0.034. Galatea was found by the prolific comet discoverer Ernst Tempel on August 29, 1862, in Marseilles, France. It was his third asteroid discovery. It is named after one of the two Galateas in Greek mythology. A stellar occultation by Galatea was observed on September 8, 1987. The name Galatea has also been given to one of Neptune's satellites.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">99 Dike</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Dike is a quite large and dark main-belt asteroid. Dike was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly on May 28, 1868. It was his first asteroid discovery. This object is named after Dike, the Greek goddess of moral justice. Among the first hundred numbered minor planets, 99 Dike was considered anomalously faint for over a century. However, this was later found to be untrue.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">103 Hera</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Hera is a moderately large main-belt asteroid with an orbital period of 4.44 years. It was discovered by Canadian-American astronomer James Craig Watson on September 7, 1868, and named after Hera, queen and fifth in power of the Olympian gods in Greek mythology. This is a stony S-type asteroid with a silicate surface composition.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">120 Lachesis</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Lachesis is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly on April 10, 1872, and independently by German-American astronomer Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters on April 11, 1872, then named after Lachesis, one of the Moirai, or Fates, in Greek mythology. A Lachesean occultation of a star occurred in 1999 and was confirmed visually by five observers and once photoelectrically, with the chords yielding an estimated elliptical cross-section of 184 × 144 km.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">134 Sophrosyne</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Sophrosyne is a large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by German astronomer Robert Luther on 27 September 1873, and was named after the concept of sophrosyne, Plato's term for 'moderation'. Classified as a C-type asteroid, it has an exceedingly dark surface and most probably a primitive carbonaceous composition.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">150 Nuwa</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Nuwa is a large main-belt asteroid with an orbital period of 5.15 years. It was discovered by Canadian-American astronomer James Craig Watson on October 18, 1875, and named after Nüwa, the Chinese creator goddess. This object is a candidate member of the Hecuba group of asteroids that orbit near the 2:1 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. Based upon the spectrum it is classified as a C-type asteroid, which indicates that it is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous chondritic material and the surface is exceedingly dark.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">161 Athor</span> Main-belt asteroid

    161 Athor is an M-type Main belt asteroid that was discovered by James Craig Watson on April 19, 1876, at the Detroit Observatory and named after Hathor, an Egyptian fertility goddess. It is the namesake of a proposed Athor asteroid family, estimated to be ~3 billion years old.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">194 Prokne</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Prokne is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by German-American astronomer C. H. F. Peters on March 21, 1879, in Clinton, New York, and named after Procne, the sister of Philomela in Greek mythology. Stellar occultations by Prokne have been observed twice, in 1984 from Italy and again in 1999 from Iowa.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">200 Dynamene</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Dynamene is a large dark main-belt asteroid that was discovered by German-American astronomer Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters on July 27, 1879, in Clinton, New York. The name derives from Dynamene, one of the fifty Nereids in Greek mythology. Based upon its spectrum, 200 Dynamene is classified as a C-type asteroid, indicating that it probably has a primitive composition similar to the carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">204 Kallisto</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Kallisto is a fairly typical, although sizeable Main belt asteroid. It is classified as an S-type asteroid. Like other asteroids of its type, it is light in colour. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 8 October 1879, in Pola, and was named after the same nymph Callisto in Greek mythology as Jupiter's moon Callisto.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">217 Eudora</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Eudora is a large Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by French (Corsican) astronomer J. Coggia on August 30, 1880, in Marseilles, France. It was his fourth asteroid discovery and is named after Eudora, a Hyad in Greek mythology.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">275 Sapientia</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Sapientia is a very large Main belt asteroid that was discovered by Johann Palisa on 15 April 1888 in Vienna. It is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material. It is named for the Roman personification of wisdom, Sapientia.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">285 Regina</span> Main-belt asteroid

    Regina is a typical, although fairly large, Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 3 August 1889 in Nice, France. The asteroid is a suspected interloper in the Eucharis asteroid family.

    610 Valeska is a minor planet, specifically an asteroid, orbiting primarily in the asteroid belt. Discovered in 1906 by Max Wolf. The origin of the name is unknown, but it may be related to the provisional designation 1906 VK. In Slavic origin, it also means Glorious ruler. Photometric observations provide a rotation period of 4.9047±0.0002 h with a brightness variation of 0.17±0.03 in magnitude.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">632 Pyrrha</span>

    632 Pyrrha is a minor planet orbiting the Sun.

    649 Josefa is a minor planet, specifically an asteroid, orbiting primarily in the asteroid belt. Photometric observations provide a rotation period of 10.481±0.001 h with a brightness variation of 0.33±0.04 in magnitude.

    652 Jubilatrix is a minor planet, specifically an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 4 November 1907 by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa, and was named in honor of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Franz Joseph. The asteroid is orbiting at a distance of 2.55 AU with a period of 4.08 yr and an eccentricity of 0.127. It is a member of the Maria dynamic family. Photometric observations provide a rotation period of 2.6627±0.0001 h with a brightness variation of 0.27±0.03 in magnitude.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">694 Ekard</span>

    694 Ekard is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by American astronomer Joel Hastings Metcalf on November 7, 1909. The asteroid's name comes from the reverse spelling of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where Seth Barnes Nicholson and his wife calculated its orbit.

    References

    1. 1 2 "Terpsichore" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
    2. 1 2 3 Carry, B. (December 2012), "Density of asteroids", Planetary and Space Science , vol. 73, pp. 98–118, arXiv: 1203.4336 , Bibcode:2012P&SS...73...98C, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009. See Table 1.
    3. Asteroid Data Sets Archived 2009-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
    4. Tempel, M. (November 1864), "Minor Planet 81 Terpsichore discovered", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 25: 31, Bibcode:1864MNRAS..25...31T.
    5. Pilcher, Frederick (July 2011), "Rotation Period Determinations for 28 Bellona, 81 Terpsichore, 126 Velleda 150 Nuwa, 161 Athor, 419 Aurelia, and 632 Pyrrha", The Minor Planet Bulletin, 38 (3): 156−158, Bibcode:2011MPBu...38..156P.
    6. Timerson, Brad; Durech, J.; Pilcher, F.; et al. (October 2010), "Occultations by 81 Terpsichore and 694 Ekard in 2009 at Different Rotational Phase Angles", The Minor Planet Bulletin, 37 (4): 140−142, Bibcode:2010MPBu...37..140T.