35 Leukothea

Leukothea (minor planet designation: 35 Leukothea) is a large, dark asteroid from the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Theodor Robert Luther on April 19, 1855,[5] and named after Leukothea, a sea goddess in Greek mythology. 35 Leukothea is a C-type asteroid in the Tholen classification system,[2] suggesting a carbonaceous composition. It is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.17 years and has a cross-sectional size of 103.1 km.

35 Leukothea
Three-dimensional model of 35 Leukothea created based on light-curve
Discovery
Discovered byR. Luther
Discovery dateApril 19, 1855
Designations
Designation
(35) Leukothea
Pronunciation/ljuːˈkɒθiə/[1]
Named after
Λευκοθέα Leykothea
1948 DC; 1950 RS1; 1976 WH
Main belt
AdjectivesLeukothea /ljuːˈkɒθiən/
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion549.374 Gm (3.672 AU)
Perihelion345.074 Gm (2.307 AU)
447.224 Gm (2.990 AU)
Eccentricity0.228
1,887.983 d (5.17 a)
17.00 km/s
77.469°
Inclination7.938°
353.817°
213.962°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions103.1 km
~0.0545 km/s
31.900[3] h
Albedo0.066[4]
Temperature~162 K
Spectral type
C
8.5

    Photometric observations of this asteroid from the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico during 2010 gave a light curve with a rotation period of 31.900±0.001 hours and a brightness variability of 0.42±0.04 in magnitude. This is consistent with previous studies in 1990 and 2008.[3]

    The computed Lyapunov time for this asteroid is 20,000 years, indicating that it occupies a chaotic orbit that will change randomly over time because of gravitational perturbations of the planets.[6]

    References
    1. "Leukothea". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House.
    2. Yeomans, Donald K., "35 Leukothea", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 7 April 2013.
    3. Pilcher, Frederick (July 2010), "Period Determinations for 11 Parthenope, 35 Leukothea, 38 Leda, 111 Ate, 194 Prokne, 262 Valda, 728 Leonisis, and 747 Winchester", The Minor Planet Bulletin, 37 (3), pp. 119–122, Bibcode:2010MPBu...37..119P.
    4. Asteroid Data Archive, Planetary Science Institute, archived from the original on 23 May 2006, retrieved 3 November 2008.
    5. "Numbered Minor Planets 1–5000", Discovery Circumstances, IAU Minor Planet center, retrieved 7 April 2013.
    6. Šidlichovský, M. (1999), Svoren, J.; Pittich, E. M.; Rickman, H. (eds.), "Resonances and chaos in the asteroid belt", Evolution and source regions of asteroids and comets : proceedings of the 173rd colloquium of the International Astronomical Union, held in Tatranska Lomnica, Slovak Republic, August 24–28, 1998, pp. 297–308, Bibcode:1999esra.conf..297S.

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