43 Ariadne

Infobox Planet | discovery=yes | physical_characteristics = yes | bgcolour=#FFFFC0
name=43 Ariadne
discoverer=N. R. Pogson
discovered=April 15, 1857
alt_names="none"
mp_category=Main belt (Flora family)
epoch=November 26, 2005 (JD 2453700.5)
semimajor=329.646 Gm (2.204 AU)
perihelion=274.339 Gm (1.834 AU)
aphelion=384.954 Gm (2.573 AU)
eccentricity=0.168
period=1194.766 d (3.27 a)
inclination=3.464°
asc_node=264.937°
arg_peri=15.948°
mean_anomaly=101.582°
avg_speed=19.92 km/s
dimensions=95×60×50 km ^{[http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/simps.html] [http://www.rni.helsinki.fi/~mjk/IcarPIII.pdf] [http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/aa/pdf/2003/14/aa3023.pdf?access=ok]}
mass=~4.0×10¹⁷ kg "(estimate)"
density=~2.7 g/cm³ "(estimate)" ^{[#Krasinsky02| [5]}
surface_grav=~0.012 m/s² "(estimate)"
escape_velocity=~0.034 km/s "(estimate)"
rotation=0.2401 d ^{[http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/lc.html]}
spectral_type=S-type asteroid
magnitude = 8.78 to 13.29
abs_magnitude=7.93
albedo=0.274 (geometric) ^{[#IRAS| [1]}
angular_size = 0.11" to 0.025"
single_temperature=~178 K
"max:" 275K (+2° C)

43 Ariadne (IPAEng|ˌæriˈædni) is a fairly large and bright main belt asteroid. It is the second-largest member of the Flora asteroid family. It was discovered by N. R. Pogson on April 15, 1857 and named after the Greek heroine Ariadne.

Characteristics

Ariadne is very elongate (almost twice as long as its smallest dimension) and likely bi-lobed ^{[#Tanga03| [3]} or at least very angular. It is a retrograde rotator, although its pole points almost parallel to the ecliptic towards ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (-15°, 253°) with a 10° uncertainty ^{[#Kaasalainen02| [2]} . This gives an axial tilt of about 105°.

Trivia

*For reasons unknown, "Asteroid 43 Ariadne" was included in a list of names of supporters of the NASA spacecraft Stardust that was stored on a microchip within the spacecraft.

*The maximum apparent size of Ariadne is equivalent to the maximum apparent size of Pluto.

References

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[http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/astdata04/simps04/diamalb.tab Supplemental IRAS Minor Planet Survey]

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M. Kaasalainen, J. Torppa & J. Piironen " [http://www.rni.helsinki.fi/~mjk/IcarPIII.pdf Models of Twenty Asteroids from Photometric Data] ", Icarus, Vol. 159, p. 369 (2002).
#

P. Tanga et al " [http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/aa/pdf/2003/14/aa3023.pdf?access=ok Asteroid observations with the Hubble Space Telescope] ", Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 401, p. 733 (2003).
# [http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/lc.html PDS lightcurve data]
#

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

External links

* [http://www.rni.helsinki.fi/~mjk/IcarPIII.pdf shape model deduced from lightcurve]
* [http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/aa/pdf/2003/14/aa3023.pdf?access=ok bi-lobed shape model from Hubble lightcurves]
* [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=43;orb=1 Orbital simulation] from JPL (Java) / [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&body_group=sb&sstr=43 Ephemeris]