205 Martha

Martha (minor planet designation: 205 Martha) is a large main belt asteroid. It is a dark, primitive carbonaceous C-type asteroid. This object was discovered by Johann Palisa on 13 October 1879, in Pola and was named after Martha, a woman in the New Testament.

205 Martha
Discovery
Discovered byJohann Palisa
Discovery date13 October 1879
Designations
(205) Martha
Pronunciation/ˈmɑːrθə/[1]
Named after
Martha
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc136.51 yr (49860 d)
Aphelion2.8758 AU (430.21 Gm)
Perihelion2.6783 AU (400.67 Gm)
2.7771 AU (415.45 Gm)
Eccentricity0.035571
4.63 yr (1690.3 d)
17.87 km/s
198.37°
0° 12m 46.692s / day
Inclination10.696°
211.792°
177.281°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions80.58±1.4 km
14.911 h (0.6213 d)
0.0553±0.002
C
9.23

    Efforts to determine the rotation period for this asteroid have produced wildly different results, in large part because the actual period is close to half of an Earth day. A study performed during 2013 showed that the light curve changed significantly during the observation period, adding to the difficulty. This study gave a synodic rotation period of 14.905 ± 0.001 h.[3]

    References

    1. Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
    2. "205 Martha". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
    3. Hawkins, Scot; Ditteon, Richard (January 2014), "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Oakley Observatory - May 2007", Minor Planet Bulletin, 41 (1): 47–49, Bibcode:2014MPBu...41...47P.


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