Summary
Felicitas (minor planet designation: 109 Felicitas) is a dark and fairly large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by German-American astronomer C. H. F. Peters on October 9, 1869, and named after Felicitas, the Roman goddess of success.[5] The only observed stellar occultation by Felicitas is one from Japan (March 29, 2003).[6]
 3D convex shape model of 109 Felicitas | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters |
| Discovery date | 9 October 1869 |
| Designations | |
| (109) Felicitas | |
| Pronunciation | /fɪˈlɪsɪtæs/[1] |
Named after | Felicitas |
| A869 TA; 1911 HA | |
| Main belt | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 146.39 yr (53470 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.4971 AU (523.16 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 1.89658 AU (283.724 Gm) |
| 2.6968 AU (403.44 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.29674 |
| 4.43 yr (1617.6 d) | |
Average orbital speed | 17.73 km/s |
| 30.6904° | |
| 0° 13m 21.18s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.8813° |
| 3.1617° | |
| 56.392° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.920053 AU (137.6380 Gm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.95452 AU (292.392 Gm) |
| TJupiter | 3.291 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 89.44±2.5 km[2] 88.971 km[3] |
| Mass | 7.5×1017 kg |
Equatorial surface gravity | 0.0250 m/s2 |
Equatorial escape velocity | 0.0473 km/s |
| 13.191 h (0.5496 d)[2][4] | |
| 0.0699±0.004[2] 0.07 ± 0.02[3] | |
| Temperature | ~170 K |
| GC (Tholen)[3] | |
| 8.75,[2] 8.759[3] | |
This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.43 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.3. Its orbital plane is inclined by 7.9° from the plane of the ecliptic. 109 Felicitas is classified as a carbonaceous GC-type asteroid. It is spinning with a rotation period of 13.2 hours. During 2002, 109 Felicitas was observed by radar from the Arecibo Observatory. The return signal matched an effective diameter of 89 ± 9 km. This is consistent with the asteroid dimensions computed through other means.[4]
References edit
- ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
- ^ a b c d e Yeomans, Donald K., "109 Felicitas", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ a b c d Pravec, P.; et al. (May 2012), "Absolute Magnitudes of Asteroids and a Revision of Asteroid Albedo Estimates from WISE Thermal Observations", Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2012, Proceedings of the conference held May 16–20, 2012 in Niigata, Japan, vol. 1667, no. 1667, p. 6089, Bibcode:2012LPICo1667.6089P.
- ^ a b Magri, Christopher; et al. (January 2007), "A radar survey of main-belt asteroids: Arecibo observations of 55 objects during 1999–2003", Icarus, 186 (1): 126–151, Bibcode:2007Icar..186..126M, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.08.018
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2012), Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (6th ed.), Springer, p. 23, ISBN 978-3642297182.
- ^ Observed minor planet occultation events, version of 2005 July 26
External links edit
- 109 Felicitas at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
- 109 Felicitas at the JPL Small-Body Database
