.png) Three-dimensional model of 53 Kalypso created based on light-curve. | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Karl Theodor Robert Luther |
| Discovery date | 4 April 1858 |
| Designations | |
| (53) Kalypso | |
| Pronunciation | /kəˈlɪpsoʊ/[2] |
Named after | Calypso |
| Main belt | |
| Adjectives | Kalypsonian/kælɪpˈsoʊniən/[3] Kalypsoian/kælɪpˈsoʊ.iən/ |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5) | |
| Aphelion | 471.807 million km (3.154 AU) |
| Perihelion | 311.998 million km (2.086 AU) |
| 391.903 million km (2.620AU) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.204 |
| 1548.736 d (4.24a) | |
| 98.113° | |
| Inclination | 5.153° |
| 143.813° | |
| 312.330° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 115.4 km[4] |
| Mass | (1.294 ± 0.520/0.412)×1018 kg[5] |
Meandensity | 1.625 ± 0.653/0.517 g/cm3[5][a] |
| 9.036[6] h | |
| 0.040[4][7] | |
| 8.81[4] | |
53 Kalypso is a large and very darkmain beltasteroid that was discovered by German astronomerRobert Luther on April 4, 1858, atDüsseldorf.[1] It is named afterCalypso, a seanymph inGreek mythology, a name it shares withCalypso, amoon ofSaturn.
The orbit of 53 Kalypso places it in amean motion resonance with the planetsJupiter andSaturn. The computedLyapunov time for this asteroid is 19,000 years, indicating that it occupies a chaotic orbit that will change randomly over time because ofgravitational perturbations of the planets.[8]
Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2005–06 gave alight curve with a period of 18.075 ± 0.005 hours and a brightness variation of 0.14 inmagnitude.[9] In 2009, a photometric study from a different viewing angle was performed at the Organ Mesa Observatory inLas Cruces, New Mexico, yielding a rotation period of 9.036 ± 0.001 with a brightness variation of 0.14 ± 0.02 magnitude. This is exactly half of the 2005–06 result. The author of the earlier study used additional data observation that favored the 9.036 hour period. The discrepancy was deemed a consequence of viewing the asteroid from different longitudes.[6]
Kalypso has been studied byradar.[10]
