93 Minerva

Minerva (minor planet designation: 93 Minerva) is a large trinary main-belt asteroid. It is a C-type asteroid, meaning that it has a dark surface and possibly a primitive carbonaceous composition. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on 24 August 1867, and named after Minerva, the Roman equivalent of Athena, goddess of wisdom. An occultation of a star by Minerva was observed in France, Spain and the United States on 22 November 1982. An occultation diameter of ~170 km was measured from the observations. Since then two more occultations have been observed, which give an estimated mean diameter of ~150 km for diameter.[6][7]

93 Minerva
A three-dimensional model of 93 Minerva based on its light curve.
Discovery
Discovered byJames Craig Watson
Discovery siteAnn Arbor, Michigan
Discovery date24 August 1867
Designations
(93) Minerva
Pronunciation/mɪˈnɜːrvə/[1]
Named after
Minerva
1949 QN2, A902 DA
Main belt
AdjectivesMinervian, Minervean /mɪˈnɜːrviən/
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc146.14 yr (53379 d)
Aphelion3.1429 AU (470.17 Gm)
Perihelion2.3711 AU (354.71 Gm)
2.7570 AU (412.44 Gm)
Eccentricity0.13998
4.58 yr (1672.0 d)
~17.86 km/s
262.022°
0° 12m 55.116s / day
Inclination8.56143°
4.06265°
274.543°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions141.55±4.0 km (IRAS)[2]
156km (spherical)[3]
Mass3.7×1018 kg (assumed)[4]
Mean density
1.9 g/cm³[3]
Equatorial surface gravity
4.139 cm/s2 (0.004221 g)[5]
Equatorial escape velocity
8.035 cm/s[5]
5.982 h (0.2493 d)[2]
0.0733±0.004[2]
C[2]
G?[3]
8.0[2]

    Satellites

    On 16 August 2009, at 13:36 UT, the Keck Observatory's adaptive optics system revealed that the asteroid 93 Minerva possesses 2 small moons.[8] They are 4 and 3 km in diameter and the projected separations from Minerva correspond to 630 km (8.8 x Rprimary) and 380 km (5.2 x Rprimary) respectively.[8] They have been named Aegis (/ˈiːdʒɪs/)[9] and Gorgoneion (/ˌɡɔːrɡəˈnaɪən/).[10]

    References
    1. Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
    2. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 93 Minerva" (2011-12-29 last obs). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
    3. Franck Marchis (7 October 2011). "Is the triple Asteroid Minerva a baby-Ceres?". NASA blog (Cosmic Diary). Retrieved 28 January 2012.
    4. Using a spherical radius of 78 km; volume of a sphere * density of 1.9 g/cm³ yields a mass (m=d*v) of 3.77E+18 kg
    5. "HEC:Exoplanets Calculator/Planet Density, Surface Gravity, and Escape Velocity". Planetary Habitability Laboratory. University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
    6. Millis, R.L; Wasserman, L.H; Bowell, E; Franz, O.G; Nye, R; Osborn, W; Klemola, A (1985), "The occultation of AG+29°398 by 93 Minerva", Icarus, 61 (1): 124–131, Bibcode:1985Icar...61..124M, doi:10.1016/0019-1035(85)90159-9, hdl:2060/19840022996
    7. "Observed minor planet occultation events". astro.cz. 26 July 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
    8. Franck Marchis (21 August 2009). "The discovery of a new triple asteroid, (93) Minerva". Cosmic Diary Blog. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
    9. "aegis". Lexico UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
    10. "gorgoneion". Lexico UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press.

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