| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | John Russell Hind |
| Discovery date: | September 13, 1850 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch July 14, 2004 (JD 2453200.5) | |
| Aphelion | 426.234 Gm (2.849 AU) |
| Perihelion: | 272.097 Gm (1.819 AU) |
| Semi-major axis: | 349.166 Gm (2.334 AU) |
| Eccentricity: | 0.221 |
| Orbital period: | 1302.439 d (3.57 a) |
| Avg. orbital speed: | 19.50 km/s |
| Mean anomaly: | 80.591° |
| Inclination: | 8.363° |
| Longitude of ascending node: | 235.547° |
| Argument of perihelion: | 69.747° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions: | 112.8 km |
| Mass: | 1.5×1018 kg |
| Mean density: | 2 ? g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity: | 0.0315 m/s² |
| Escape velocity: | 0.0596 km/s |
| Rotation period: | 0.3609 d[1] |
| Albedo: | 0.177 (geometric) [2] |
| Temperature: | ~178 K |
| Spectral type: | S-type asteroid |
| Apparent magnitude: | 8.53 to 12.82 |
| Absolute magnitude: | 7.24 |
| Angular diameter: | 0.188" to 0.04" |
12 Victoria (pronounced /vɪkˈtɔəriə/, Latin: Uictōria) is a large Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by J. R. Hind on September 13, 1850. Victoria is officially named after the Roman goddess of victory, but the name also honours Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The goddess Victoria (Nike for the Greeks) was the daughter of Styx by the Titan Pallas. The coincidence with the name of the then-reigning queen caused quite a controversy at the time, and B. A. Gould, editor of the prestigious Astronomical Journal, adopted the alternate name Clio (now used by 84 Klio), proposed by the discoverer. However, W. C. Bond, of the Harvard College Observatory, then the highest authority on astronomy in America, held that the mythological condition was fulfilled and the name therefore acceptable, and his opinion eventually prevailed. Radar and speckle interferometry observations show that the shape of Victoria is elongated, and it is suspected to be a binary asteroid.[3] Victoria has been observed to occult stars 3 times.
References
- ^ http://www.astrosurf.com/aude-old/map_files/AstVarMAP01-2003.htm
- ^ http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/astdata04/simps04/diamalb.tab
- ^ http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/asteroidmoonsq.html
External links
- Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Ephemeris
| Minor planets (see full list) |
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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. |
