259 Aletheia
| Discovery SMASS) | |
|---|---|
| 7.76 | |
Aletheia (
largest asteroids of the main-belt. It has a semi-major axis of 3.1 AU and an orbit inclined by 11 degrees with a period of 5.55 years.[1]
Schelte Bus further added to the knowledge about this asteroid in a lightwave survey published in 2003. This project was known as Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (0.435-0.925 micrometre) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999.[6][7]
Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hill Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the Minor Planet Center.[8]
It is named after the Greek goddess of truth, Aletheia, the daughter of Zeus and one of the nurses of Apollo.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 259 Aletheia" (2015-09-15 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ 'Alethia' in Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language, with -eia pronounced as in 'Hygeia', 'apatheia', etc.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.
- ^ "Small-Body Database Lookup".
- ^ S2CID 119226456. See Table 1.
- ^ Bus, S., Binzel, R. P. Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II. EAR-A-I0028-4-SBN0001/SMASSII-V1.0. NASA Planetary Data System, 2003.
- ^ JPL Small-Body Database Browser
- ^ "Lightcurve Results". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
External links
- Lightcurve plot of (259) Aletheia Archived 13 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Antelope Hills Observatory
- The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database
- Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances
- Asteroid Lightcurve Data File
- 259 Aletheia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 259 Aletheia at the JPL Small-Body Database
