 Lightcurve-base 3D-model of 464 Megaira. | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | M. F. Wolf |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 January 1901 |
| Designations | |
| (464) Megaira | |
| Pronunciation | /mɪˈɡaɪərə/ (Megaira) /mɪˈdʒɪərə/ (Megaera)[2] |
Named after | Megaera (Greek mythology)[3] |
| A901 AB · 1929 AH A912 JB · A912 JC A916 FD · 1901 FV | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 119.07yr (43,489 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.3764AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2248 AU |
| 2.8006 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2056 |
| 4.69 yr (1,712 d) | |
| 253.43° | |
| 0° 12m 37.08s / day | |
| Inclination | 10.170° |
| 102.37° | |
| 258.19° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 12.879±0.001 h[10] | |
| 9.7[1][4] | |
464 Megaira (prov. designation:A901 ABor1901 FV) is a dark and largebackground asteroid, approximately 77 kilometers (48 miles) in diameter, located in the central region of theasteroid belt. It was discovered by astronomerMax Wolf at theHeidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany on 9 January 1901.[1] The carbonaceousC-type asteroid (FX) has arotation period of 12.9 hours. It was named afterMegaera from Greek mythology.[3]
Megaira is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[5][6] It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,712 days;semi-major axis of 2.8 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.21 and aninclination of 10° with respect to theecliptic.[4] The body'sobservation arc begins atHeidelberg Observatory with its official discovery observation on 9 January 1901.[1]
Thisminor planet was named afterMegaera, the avenging spirit from Greek mythology. She is one of the threeErinyes (Furies), who bring retribution on those guilty of sins. Thenaming was also mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 50).[3] It was the first numbered minor planet detected in the 20th century.[3]
In theTholen classification-SMASS classification,Megaira is closest to a darkF-type asteroid, and somewhat similar to anX-type, though with an unusual (U) and noisy spectra (:).[4] In the Bus–BinzelSMASS classification it is a common carbonaceousC-type asteroid.
In March 2019, a rotationallightcurve ofMegaira was obtained fromphotometric observations byFrederick Pilcher. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of12.879±0.001 hours with a brightness variation of0.12±0.01magnitude (U=3).[10] The result supersedes previously published period determinations.[11][12][13]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Megaira measures between 55.09 and 85.50 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.03 and 0.06.[6][7][8][9][14] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link takes an albedo of 0.0469 fromPetr Pravec's revised WISE data and calculates a diameter of 78.29 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 9.47.[14]
