62 Erato

62 Erato

A three-dimensional model of 62 Erato based on its light curve.
Discovery
Discovered by Oskar Lesser and Wilhelm Julius Foerster
Discovery date September 14, 1860
Designations
Named after
Erato
 
Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion 550.315 Gm (3.679 AU)
Perihelion 383.868 Gm (2.566 AU)
467.092 Gm (3.122 AU)
Eccentricity 0.178
2015.178 d (5.52 a)
16.72 km/s
161.828°
Inclination 2.223°
125.738°
273.285°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 95.4 km
Mass 9.1×1017 kg
Mean density
? g/cm³
0.0267 m/s²
0.0504 km/s
5.675 ± 0.001 h[1]
Albedo 0.061 [2]
Temperature ~158 K
Spectral type
C?
8.76

    62 Erato (/ˈɛrət/ ERR-ə-toh) is a large and dark, probably carbonaceous Themistian asteroid. It is a member of the Eos family.[1]

    Erato is the first asteroid to have been credited with co-discoverers, Oskar Lesser and Wilhelm Forster, who discovered it on September 14, 1860 from the Berlin Observatory. It was their first and only asteroid discovery. The name was chosen by Johann Franz Encke, director of the observatory, and refers to Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry in Greek mythology.[3]

    References

    1. 1 2 Alvarez-Candal, Alvaro; et al. (December 2004), "Rotational lightcurves of asteroids belonging to families", Icarus, 172 (2): 388–401, Bibcode:2004Icar..172..388A, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.06.008.
    2. Asteroid Data Sets
    3. Lutz D. Schmadel, Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, p.21.

    External links


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