Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Luigi Carnera |
Discovery site | Heidelberg Observatory |
Discovery date | 11 October 1901 |
Designations | |
(808) Merxia | |
1901 GY | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 114.45 yr (41803 d) |
Aphelion | 3.0921 AU (462.57 Gm) |
Perihelion | 2.3990 AU (358.89 Gm) |
2.7456 AU (410.74 Gm) | |
Eccentricity | 0.12621 |
4.55 yr (1661.7 d) | |
11.0596° | |
0° 12m 59.94s / day | |
Inclination | 4.7240° |
181.066° | |
274.396° | |
Earth MOID | 1.41983 AU (212.404 Gm) |
Jupiter MOID | 2.09197 AU (312.954 Gm) |
TJupiter | 3.331 |
Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 16.245±1.15 km |
30.631 h (1.2763 d) [1] | |
0.2207±0.035 [1] | |
S-type asteroid [1] | |
9.8 [1] | |
808 Merxia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It forms the namesake for the Merxia family of asteroids that share common orbital elements and physical properties.
The spectrum of this object indicates that it is an S-type asteroid with both low and high calcium forms of pyroxene on the surface, along with less than 20% olivine. The high-calcium form of pyroxene forms 40% or more of the total pyroxene present, indicating a history of igneous rock deposits. This suggests that the asteroid underwent differentiation by melting, creating a surface of basalt rock. [2]
808 Merxia is the namesake of the Merxia family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements and physical properties. The members of this family, including 808 Merxia, most likely formed from the breakup of a basalt object, which in turn was spawned from a larger parent body that had previously undergone igneous differentiation. Other members of this family include 1662 Hoffmann and 2042 Sitarski. [2]
Hebe is a large main-belt asteroid, containing around 0.5% of the mass of the belt. However, due to its apparently high bulk density, Hebe does not rank among the top twenty asteroids by volume. This high bulk density suggests an extremely solid body that has not been impacted by collisions, which is not typical of asteroids of its size – they tend to be loosely-bound rubble piles.
Flora is a large, bright main-belt asteroid. It is the innermost large asteroid: no asteroid closer to the Sun has a diameter above 25 kilometres, and not until 20-km 149 Medusa was discovered was an asteroid known to orbit at a closer mean distance. It is the seventh-brightest asteroid with a mean opposition magnitude of +8.7. Flora can reach a magnitude of +8.1 at a favorable opposition near perihelion, such as occurred in November 2020 when it was 0.88 AU from Earth.
Eunomia is a very large asteroid in the middle asteroid belt. It is the largest of the stony (S-type) asteroids, with 3 Juno as a close second. It is quite a massive asteroid, in 6th to 8th place. It is the largest Eunomian asteroid, and is estimated to contain 1% of the mass of the asteroid belt.
Thetis, minor planet designation 17 Thetis, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 90 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 April 1852, by German astronomer Robert Luther at Bilk Observatory in Düsseldorf, Germany who deferred to Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander the naming his first asteroid discovery after Thetis from Greek mythology. Its historical symbol was a dolphin and a star; it is in the pipeline for Unicode 17.0 as U+1CECA .
Penelope is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on August 7, 1879, in Pola. The asteroid is named after Penelope, the wife of Odysseus in Homer's The Odyssey. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.68 AU with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.18 and a period of 4.381 years. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 5.8° to the plane of the ecliptic.
945 Barcelona is a minor planet orbiting the Sun in the Asteroid belt. It was discovered 3 February 1921 from Barcelona by the Catalan astronomer Josep Comas i Solà (1868–1937) and named for the city of Barcelona (Spain), the birthplace of the discoverer. It has an estimated diameter of 25.5 km.
Kreusa is a C-type asteroid orbiting the Sun in the asteroid belt, with the type indicating a surface with a low albedo and high carbonaceous content. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.
Iva is a main-belt asteroid orbiting the Sun, not to be confused with 1627 Ivar. It was discovered by American astronomer R. S. Dugan on 4 November 1902, and was named for Iva Shores, the young daughter of the family where he was staying in Heidelberg. This object is orbiting at a distance of 2.85 AU with a period of 4.82 yr and an eccentricity of 0.3. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 4.8° to the plane of the ecliptic.
686 Gersuind is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by German astronomer August Kopff on 15 August 1909 from Heidelberg. It was named after a character in Gerhart Hauptmann's play Gersuind.
712 Boliviana is a C-type asteroid from the asteroid belt, with the type indicating the surface has a low albedo with high carbonaceous content. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration. It is named after Simón Bolívar.
714 Ulula is a main belt asteroid. It is orbiting the Sun near the 3:1 Kirkwood Gap with a period of 4.04 years and an eccentricity of 0.057. It was discovered by German astronomer J. Helffrich on 18 May 1911 from the Heidelberg Observatory and was named after an order of owls. The asteroid has a mean radius of 20 km and is spinning with a rotation period of seven hours. Its pole of rotation lies just 4–14° away from the plane of the ecliptic. The surface spectrum shows a pyroxene chemistry and is consistent with mesosiderites/HED meteorites.
729 Watsonia is a rare-type asteroid and namesake of the Watsonia family from the central region of the asteroid belt. It was named after the Canadian-American astronomer James C. Watson. Watsonia occulted the star 54 Leonis on 2013 Mar 03 at 01:48.
766 Moguntia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered on 29 September 1913 at Heidelberg by German astronomer Franz Kaiser, and is named after Mainz, ancient Moguntiacum. This object is a member of the same dynamic asteroid group as 221 Eos, the Eos family. It is orbiting at a distance of 3.02 AU from the Sun with a period of 5.24 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.097. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 10.1° to the plane of the ecliptic.
781 Kartvelia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin on January 25, 1914. Kartvelia comes from the historic name for the inhabitants of the nation of Georgia. This object is orbiting at a distance of 3.22 AU with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.12 and a period of 5.78 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 19.1° to the plane of the ecliptic.
785 Zwetana is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by Adam Massinger, an assistant at the Heidelberg Observatory, on March 30, 1914. It was named for the daughter of Kiril Popoff, a Bulgarian astronomer. This asteroid is orbiting 2.57 AU from the Sun with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.21 and a period of 4.12 yr. The orbital plane is inclined by an angle of 12.8° to the plane of the ecliptic.
847 Agnia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It is approximately 28 kilometers in diameter.
1020 Arcadia, provisional designation 1924 QV, is a stony Agnia asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 March 1924, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany. The asteroid was named after the Greek region of Arcadia.
7803 Adachi, provisional designation 1997 EW2, is a stony Agnia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 4 March 1997, by Japanese amateur astronomer Takao Kobayashi at the Ōizumi Observatory in central Japan. It was named for Japanese amateur astronomer Makoto Adachi. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 5.2 hours.
3430 Bradfield (prov. designation: 1980 TF4) is a stony Agnia asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 October 1980, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The Sq-type asteroid was named after comet hunter William A. Bradfield.
2015 TC25 is a near-Earth asteroid, and at only 6 feet (1.8 meters) across and absolute magnitude 29.34 mag, it is thought to be the third smallest asteroid observed over multiple years, after 2021 GM1 with absolute magnitude 30.4 and 2006 RH120 with absolute magnitude 29.5. The asteroid is notable for reflecting about 60% of the light that hits it, making it one of the brightest near-earth asteroids ever seen.