Summary
Harmonia (minor planet designation: 40 Harmonia) is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on March 31, 1856,[6] and named after Harmonia, the Greek goddess of harmony. The name was chosen to mark the end of the Crimean War.
 A three-dimensional model of 40 Harmonia based on its light curve | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | H. Goldschmidt |
| Discovery date | March 31, 1856 |
| Designations | |
| (40) Harmonia | |
| Pronunciation | /hɑːrˈmoʊniə/[1] |
Named after | Harmonia |
| 1950 XU | |
| Main belt | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5) | |
| Aphelion | 355.021 Gm (2.373 AU) |
| Perihelion | 323.537 Gm (2.163 AU) |
| 339.279 Gm (2.268 AU) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.046 |
| 1,247.514 d (3.42 a) | |
| 249.120° | |
| Inclination | 4.256° |
| 94.287° | |
| 268.988° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 111.251 ± 0.391 km[2] |
| Mass | (2.206 ± 0.612/0.42)×1018 kg[3] |
Mean density | 2.867 ± 0.795/0.546 g/cm3[3][a] |
| 0.3712 d (8.909 h)[4] | |
| 0.242[5] | |
| S | |
| 9.31 (brightest) | |
| 6.55[2] | |
The asteroid is orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.42 years and a relatively low eccentricity of 0.046. It has a cross-sectional size of 107.6 km. The spectrum of 40 Harmonia matches an S-type (silicate) in the Tholen classification system, and is similar to primitive achondrite meteorites.[7] Photometric observations at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico during 2008–09 were used to generate a light curve that showed four unequal minima and maxima per cycle. The curve shows a period of 8.909 ± 0.001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This result is compatible with previous studies.[4]
Speckle interferometric observations carried out with the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory during 1982–84 failed to discover a satellite companion.[8] In 1988 a search for satellites or dust orbiting this asteroid was performed using the UH88 telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories, but the effort came up empty.[9]
Notes edit
- ^ Assuming a diameter of 113.7 ± 7 km.
References edit
- ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
- ^ a b c Yeomans, Donald K., "40 Harmonia", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ a b Fienga, A.; Avdellidou, C.; Hanuš, J. (February 2020). "Asteroid masses obtained with INPOP planetary ephemerides". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 492 (1). doi:10.1093/mnras/stz3407.
- ^ a b Pilcher, Frederick (October 2009), "New Lightcurves of 8 Flora, 13 Egeria, 14 Irene, 25 Phocaea 40 Harmonia, 74 Galatea, and 122 Gerda", The Minor Planet Bulletin, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 133–136, Bibcode:2009MPBu...36..133P.
- ^ Asteroid Data Archive, Planetary Science Institute, archived from the original on 23 June 2006, retrieved 3 November 2008.
- ^ "Numbered Minor Planets 1–5000", Discovery Circumstances, IAU Minor Planet center, retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ Hiroi, T.; et al. (March 1993), "Modeling of S-type asteroid spectra using primitive achondrites and iron meteorites", Icarus, vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 107–116, Bibcode:1993Icar..102..107H, doi:10.1006/icar.1993.1036.
- ^ Roberts, Lewis C. Jr.; et al. (November 1995), "A Speckle Interferometric Survey for Asteroid Duplicity", Astronomical Journal, vol. 110, pp. 2463–2468, Bibcode:1995AJ....110.2463R, doi:10.1086/117704.
- ^ Gradie, J.; Flynn, L. (March 1988), "A Search for Satellites and Dust Belts Around Asteroids: Negative Results", Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, vol. 19, pp. 405–406, Bibcode:1988LPI....19..405G.
External links edit
- 40 Harmonia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
- 40 Harmonia at the JPL Small-Body Database
