| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. Palisa |
| Discovery site | Vienna Obs. |
| Discovery date | 25 August 1909 |
| Designations | |
| (688) Melanie | |
Named after | unknown[2] |
| A909 QC · 1927 SR 1940 SJ · A917 KD 1909 HH | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (middle)[4] background[5][6][7] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 106.92yr (39,054 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.0733AU |
| Perihelion | 2.3217 AU |
| 2.6975 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1393 |
| 4.43 yr (1,618 d) | |
| 20.621° | |
| 0° 13m 21s / day | |
| Inclination | 10.244° |
| 170.84° | |
| 138.97° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 18.87±0.01 h[11] | |
688 Melanie (prov. designation:A909 QCor1909 HH) is a darkbackground asteroid from the central regions of theasteroid belt. It was discovered by Austrian astronomerJohann Palisa at theVienna Observatory on 25 August 1909.[1] The carbonaceousC-type asteroid has arotation period of 18.9 hours and measures approximately 42 kilometers (26 miles) in diameter. Any reference to the origin of the asteroid's name is unknown.[2]
Melanie is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[5][6][7] It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.3–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,618 days;semi-major axis of 2.7 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.14 and aninclination of 10° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The body'sobservation arc begins atVienna Observatory in July 1913, or four years after its official discovery observation.[1]
Thisminor planet was named in 1910, by Otto Prelinger who collaborated with Johann Palisa andMax Wolf on the photographicstar charts (AN 186, 15). Any reference of thisminor planet's name to a person or occurrence is unknown.[2]
Among the many thousands ofnamed minor planets,Melanie is one of 120 asteroids for whichno naming citation has been published. All of these asteroids with an unknown meaning have low numbers, beginning with164 Eva and ending with1514 Ricouxa, all discovered between 1876 and the 1930s, predominantly by astronomersAuguste Charlois, Johann Palisa,Max Wolf andKarl Reinmuth.[12]
In both theBus-DeMeo classification and the Bus–BinzelSMASS classification,Melanie is a common, carbonaceousC-type asteroid.[3][6]
In September 2011, a rotationallightcurve ofMelanie was obtained fromphotometric observations byRobert Stephens at the Santana Observatory (646) in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of18.87±0.01 hours with a low brightness variation of0.14±0.01magnitude (U=3).[11] The first but unsuccessful attempt to measure the objects period was undertaken byRichard Binzel in June 1984.[13] Other observations by French amateur astronomersLaurent Bernasconi (2005) andRené Roy (2011) gave a period of (20±0.4) and (19.97) hours and an amplitude of0.07±0.01 and0.08 magnitude, respectively (U=2−/2−).[14] Also in 2011, an ambiguous period of (16.10±0.05) with an alternative period solution of 16.10 hours and an amplitude of (0.09±0.01) magnitude was determined (U=2).[15]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the JapaneseAkari satellite,Melanie measures (41.40±3.1), (41.614±0.228) and (49.12±0.60) kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of (0.0599±0.010), (0.068±0.005) and (0.045±0.001), respectively.[8][9][10]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the albedo obtained by IRAS and derives a diameter of 41.38 kilometers using anabsolute magnitude of 10.59.[4] Alternative mean-diameters published by the WISE team include (19.17±2.54 km), (38.832±0.280 km), (40.088±11.29 km), (41.54±13.73 km) and (43.864±0.198 km) with a corresponding albedo of (0.22±0.05), (0.068±0.005), (0.0538±0.0347), (0.05±0.03) and (0.0533±0.0107).[6][4] On 4 August 2002, anasteroid occultation gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of (41.0 km × 41.0 km) with a low quality rating of 0.[6] These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star.[6]
