.png) Lightcurve-based 3-D model ofRhodope | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. H. F. Peters |
| Discovery site | Litchfield Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 August 1876 |
| Designations | |
| (166) Rhodope | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈrɒdəpiː/[2] |
Named after | Queen Rhodope[3] (Greek mythology) |
| A876 PB | |
| main-belt · (middle) background[4] · Eunomia[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 132.05 yr (48,233 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.2539AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1165 AU |
| 2.6852 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2118 |
| 4.40yr (1,607 days) | |
| 324.65° | |
| 0° 13m 26.4s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.028° |
| 128.92° | |
| 264.50° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 39.04±9.79 km[6] 52.393±0.196 km[7] 53.26±0.62 km[8] 54.551±1.535 km[9] 54.56 km(taken)[5] 54.564 km[10] 62.34±21.46 km[11] 65.29±0.80 km[12] |
| 4.714793h[13] 4.712 h[a] 4.715 h[5] 4.7152±0.0002 h[14] 7.87±0.03 h(poor)[15] | |
| 0.046±0.004[12] 0.05±0.03[11] 0.0657±0.0145[9] 0.0747[10] 0.076±0.002[8] 0.10±0.05[6] | |
| Tholen = GC:[1] SMASS = Xe[1] C[16] · P[9] · X[5] B–V = 0.725[1] U–B = 0.425[1] | |
| 9.75[5] · 9.75±0.05[10][15] · 9.89[1][6][8][9][12] · 9.95[11] · 10.22±0.25[16] | |
166 Rhodope is a dark backgroundasteroid from the central region of theasteroid belt, approximately 55 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 August 1876, by German–American astronomerChristian Peters at theLitchfield Observatory in Clinton, New York, United States.[17] The asteroid was named afterQueen Rhodope from Greek mythology.[3]
Rhodope is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population, when applying theHierarchical Clustering Method to itsproper orbital elements.[4] Alternatively, it has been dynamically assigned to the stonyEunomia family (502),[5] which have a different spectral class and albedo than that ofRhodope though.[18]: 23 The asteroid has also been considered a member of theAdeona family.[citation needed]
Rhodope orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,607 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.21 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with the first recorded observation by theMPC atVienna Observatory on 10 September 1885, or more than 9 years after its official discovery observation at Clinton.[17]
On 19 October 2005, it was observedocculting the prominent starRegulus fromVibo Valentia, Italy.[19]
Rhodope'sspectral type is ambiguous. In theTholen classification, the noisy spectrum is closest to aG-type and somewhat similar to a commonC-type (GC:).[1] In theSMASS classification, it is an Xe-subtype, that transitions from theX-type to the very brightE-type.[1] In addition,Rhodope has also been characterized as a primitiveP-type and carbonaceous C-type by theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and byPan-STARRS photometric survey, respectively.[9][16]
Two well-defined rotationallightcurves ofRhodope were obtained from photometric observations by French astronomer Matthieu Conjat and by an anonymous observer of theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL). Lightcurve analysis gave a consolidatedrotation period of 4.715 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 to 0.36magnitude (U=3/3).[5][14][a] The result supersedes a period of 7.87 hours measured by Alan Harris in the early 1980s (U=1).[15]
In 2013, the asteroid's lightcurve was also modeled from combined dense and sparsephotometry. It gave a concurring sidereal period of 4.714793 hours. The modelling also determined two spin axis of (345.0°, −22.0°) and (173.0°, −3.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[13]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope,Rhodope measures between 39.04 and 65.29 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.046 and 0.10.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
CALL adoptsPetr Pravec's revised WISE-data, that is, an albedo of 0.0747 and a diameter of 54.56 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 9.75.[5][10]
Thisminor planet was named fromGreek mythology afterQueen Rhodope ofThrace, wife of KingHaemus and attendant ofArtemis,also see(105). In vanity, Rhodope and Haemus compared themselves to the godsZeus andHera,see(5731) and(103), who punished the couple by changing them into theRhodope Mountains andBalkan Mountains, respectively.[3]
