| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | J. C. Watson |
| Discovery date: | July 11, 1868 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch November 26, 2005 (JD 2453700.5) | |
| Aphelion | 539.149 Gm (3.604 AU) |
| Perihelion: | 386.502 Gm (2.584 AU) |
| Semi-major axis: | 462.825 Gm (3.094 AU) |
| Eccentricity: | 0.165 |
| Orbital period: | 1987.636 d (5.44 a) |
| Avg. orbital speed: | 16.82 km/s |
| Mean anomaly: | 76.006° |
| Inclination: | 6.430° |
| Longitude of ascending node: | 127.343° |
| Argument of perihelion: | 185.908° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions: | 89 km[1] |
| Mass: | ~1.0×1018 kg (estimate) |
| Mean density: | ~2.7 g/cm³ (estimate)[3] |
| Equatorial surface gravity: | ~0.033 m/s² (estimate) |
| Escape velocity: | ~0.054 km/s (estimate) |
| Rotation period: | 0.5555 d [2] |
| Albedo: | 0.192 [1] |
| Temperature: | ~154 K max: 238K (-35° C) |
| Spectral type: | S-type asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude: | 7.67 |
100 Hekate (hek'-ə-tee, IPA: /ˈhɛkəti/) is a large Main belt asteroid. It orbits in the same region of space as the Hygiea asteroid family, however it is actually an unrelated interloper. Its albedo of 0.19 is too high, and it is of the wrong spectral class to be part of the dark carbonaceous Hygiea family. Hekate was the 100th asteroid to be discovered, by J. C. Watson on July 11, 1868. It is named after Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft in Greek mythology, but its name also commemorates it as the hundredth asteroid, as hekaton is Greek for 'hundred'. A Hekatean occultation of a star was observed on July 14, 2003 from New Zealand.
References
- PDS lightcurve data
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G. A. Krasinsky et al Hidden Mass in the Asteroid Belt, Icarus, Vol. 158, p. 98 (2002).
| Minor planets (see full list) |
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| Previous minor planet | 100 Hekate | Next minor planet |
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| Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Main belt · Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Damocloids · Neptune Trojans · Comets · Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt • Scattered disc objects • Oort cloud) |
| For other objects and regions, see Asteroid groups and families, Binary asteroids, Asteroid moons, meteoroids and the Solar System. For a complete listing, see List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names. |
