172 Baucis

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172 Baucis
Orbita asteroida 172.png
Orbital diagram
Discovery
Discovered by A. Borrelly
Discovery date5 February 1877
Designations
(172) Baucis
Pronunciation /ˈbɔːsɪs/ [1]
Named after
Baucis
A877 CA; 1921 EE
Main belt
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 133.62 yr (48806 d)
Aphelion 2.6525  AU (396.81  Gm)
Perihelion 2.1073 AU (315.25 Gm)
2.3799 AU (356.03 Gm)
Eccentricity 0.11454
3.67 yr (1341.0 d)
175.49°
0° 16m 6.42s / day
Inclination 10.028°
331.98°
359.20°
Earth  MOID 1.09593 AU (163.949 Gm)
Jupiter  MOID 2.67257 AU (399.811 Gm)
TJupiter 3.510
Physical characteristics
31.215±0.6 km
27.417  h (1.1424  d) [2] [3]
0.1382±0.006
S
8.79

    172 Baucis is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly on February 5, 1877, and named after a fictional character in the Greek legend of Baucis and Philemon. The adjectival form of the name is Baucidian. It is classified as an S-type asteroid based upon its spectrum.

    Photometric observations of this asteroid from the southern hemisphere during 2003 gave a light curve that indicated a slow synodic rotation period of 27.417 ± 0.013 hours and a brightness variation of 0.25 in magnitude. [3]

    Polarimetric study of this asteroid reveals anomalous properties that suggests the regolith consists of a mixture of low and high albedo material. This may have been caused by fragmentation of an asteroid substrate with the spectral properties of CO3/CV3 carbonaceous chondrites. [4]

    References

    1. Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
    2. 1 2 Yeomans, Donald K., "172 Baucis", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory , retrieved 6 May 2016.
    3. 1 2 Bembrick, C. S.; et al. (September 2004), "172 Baucis - a slow rotator", The Minor Planet Bulletin, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 51–52, Bibcode:2004MPBu...31...51B.
    4. Gil-Hutton, R.; et al. (April 2008), "New cases of unusual polarimetric behavior in asteroids", Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 482, no. 1, pp. 309–314, Bibcode:2008A&A...482..309G, doi: 10.1051/0004-6361:20078965 .