120 Lachesis

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120 Lachesis
000120-asteroid shape model (120) Lachesis.png
3D convex shape model of 120 Lachesis
Discovery
Discovered by Alphonse Borrelly
Discovery date10 April 1872
Designations
(120) Lachesis
Pronunciation /ˈlækɪsɪs/ LAK-iss-iss [1]
Named after
Lachesis
A872 GB; 1910 CF;
1918 UB
Main belt
Adjectives Lachesian ( /læˈkʃ(i)ən,ləˈkʒən/ la-KEE-sh(ee-)ən, lə-KEE-zhən)
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 143.70 yr (52485 d)
Aphelion 3.2814  AU (490.89  Gm)
Perihelion 2.95390 AU (441.897 Gm)
3.11767 AU (466.397 Gm)
Eccentricity 0.052528
5.50 yr (2010.7 d)
Average orbital speed
16.86 km/s
56.2095°
0° 10m 44.558s / day
Inclination 6.9643°
341.193°
232.822°
Earth  MOID 1.95464 AU (292.410 Gm)
Jupiter  MOID 1.72275 AU (257.720 Gm)
TJupiter 3.204
Physical characteristics
Dimensions155.132±1.133  km (IRAS) [2]
Mass 5.5×1018 kg
Equatorial surface gravity
0.0487 m/s2
Equatorial escape velocity
0.0920 km/s
46.551  h (1.9396  d) [2] [3]
0.0463±0.002 [2]
Temperature ~158 K
C [4]
7.75 [2]

    Lachesis (minor planet designation: 120 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. [5] 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. [6]

    This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.50 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.05. The orbital plane is inclined by 7° to the plane of the ecliptic. Photometric observations of this asteroid were made in early 2009 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The resulting light curve shows a synodic rotation period of 46.551 ± 0.002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.14 ± 0.02 in magnitude. [3] It is a very slow rotator [7] with the longest rotation period of an asteroid more than 150 km in diameter. [8] As a primitive C-type asteroid [4] it is probably composed of carbonaceous material.

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    References

    1. "Lachesis". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 120 Lachesis". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
    3. 1 2 Pilcher, Frederick (July 2009), "Rotation Period Determinations for 120 Lachesis, 131 Vala 157 Dejanira, and 271 Penthesilea", The Minor Planet Bulletin, 36 (3): 100–102, Bibcode:2009MPBu...36..100P.
    4. 1 2 Tedesco, E. F.; et al. (February 1989), "A three-parameter asteroid taxonomy", Astronomical Journal, 97: 580–606, Bibcode:1989AJ.....97..580T, doi:10.1086/115007.
    5. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003), Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, vol. 1 (5th ed.), Springer, p. 26, ISBN   3540002383.
    6. Dunham, D. W.; et al. (September 2002), "Asteroidal occultation results multiply helped by Hipparcos", The Minor Planet Bulletin, vol. 73, no. 3, p. 662, Bibcode:2002MmSAI..73..662D.
    7. Bembrick, Colin; Allen, Bill (September 2005). "120 Lachesis - a very slow rotator". Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. 32 (3): 45–46. Bibcode:2005MPBu...32...45B.
    8. "JPL Small-Body Database Search Engine: diameter > 150 (km) and rot_per > 24 (h)". JPL Solar System Dynamics . Retrieved June 6, 2015.