2685 Masursky

Infobox Planet | discovery=yes | physical_characteristics = yes | bgcolour=#FFFFC0
name=2685 Masursky


caption=Masursky as seen by Cassini
discoverer=Edward L. G. Bowell
discovered=May 3, 1981
alt_names=1950 VO; 1973 QF; 1975 XJ₅; 1977 KU; 1981 JN
mp_category=Main belt (Eunomia family)
epoch=July 14, 2004 (JD 2453200.5)
semimajor=384.170 Gm (2.568 AU)
perihelion=341.603 Gm (2.283 AU)
aphelion=426.737 Gm (2.853 AU)
eccentricity=0.111
period=1503.127 d (4.12 a)
inclination=12.132°
asc_node=215.437°
arg_peri=289.057°
mean_anomaly=297.289°
avg_speed=18.53 km/s
dimensions=15–20 km
mass=0.5–1.1×10¹⁶ kg
density=~2.7 g/cm³ "(estimate)" ^{[#Krasinsky| [1]}
surface_grav=0.006–0.007 m/s²
escape_velocity=0.009–0.012 km/s
rotation="unknown"
spectral_type=S-Type
abs_magnitude=12.2
albedo=0.06–0.11
single_temperature=~176 K
"max:" 264K (-9° C)

The asteroid 2685 Masursky is a main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Edward (Ted) Bowell in 1981. It was named after Harold Masursky (1923–1990), a planetary geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, who worked on numerous space missions.

Little was known about Masursky until the Cassini space probe, en route to Jupiter and Saturn, flew past it on 23 January, 2000. Since Cassini passed the asteroid at a distance of 1.6 million kilometres (about four times the Earth-Moon distance), the images it returned showed nothing more than a dot. Nevertheless, Cassini was able to determine Masursky's size (about 15–20 km in diameter).

Masursky's orbit places it within the Eunomia family of S-type asteroids. Cassini's observations had cast some doubt on its composition, but later ground-based spectroscopy has confirmed its S-type spectrum ^{[#Lazarro02| [2]} .

References

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G. A. Krasinsky et al "Hidden Mass in the Asteroid Belt", Icarus, Vol. 158, p. 98 (2002).

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cite journal | author=D. Lazzaro, T. Mothé-Diniz, J. M. Carvano, C. A. Angeli, A. S. Betzler, M. Florczak, A. Cellino, M. Di Martino, A. Doressoundiram, M. A. Barucci, E. Dotto, P. Bendjoya | title=The Eunomia Family: A Visible Spectroscopic Survey | journal=Icarus | year=1999 | volume=142 | pages=445 | url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WGF-45GMF6H-B&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1999&_alid=400151659&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=6821&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000052082&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=1234512&md5=7b602fd73ba08670ce6b323bc0460bb6 | doi=10.1006/icar.1999.6213