54 Alexandra

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

54 Alexandra
SMASS = C [1]
7.66[1]

Alexandra (

minor planet designation: 54 Alexandra) is a carbonaceous asteroid from the intermediate asteroid belt, approximately 155 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on 10 September 1858, and named after the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt; it was the first asteroid to be named after a male.[7]

Description

On May 17, 2005, this asteroid occulted a faint star (

perturbing effects of other bodies, yielding an estimate of (6.16±3.50)×1018 kg.[3]

Photometric observations of this asteroid during 1990–92 gave a light curve with a period of 18.14 ± 0.04 hours and a brightness variation of 0.10 in magnitude.[4] Alexandra has been studied by radar.[9] It was the namesake and largest member of the former Alexandra asteroid family; a dynamic group of C-type asteroids that share similar orbital elements. Other members included 70 Panopaea and 145 Adeona.[10] 145 Adeona was subsequently assigned to the Adeona family, with Alexandra and Panopaea being dropped.[11]

In Popular Culture

In the Swedish film Aniara (2018) it is mentioned that 54 Alexandra is the closest celestial body which the off-course and out-of-control spacecraft will approach before it leaves the Solar System.

References

  1. ^
    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    . Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Alexandra". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
    "Alexandra". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
  3. ^
    doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009
    . See Table 1.
  4. ^
    Bibcode:1993A&AS..101..507B
    .
  5. ^
    doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629956
    , A114.
  6. ^ "Asteroid Data Sets". Archived from the original on 17 December 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  7. ISBN 3642297188
    .
  8. ^ D.W. Dunham, "Upcoming Asteroid Occultations", Sky & Telescope, June, 2006, p. 63.
  9. ^ "Radar-Detected Asteroids and Comets". NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  10. Bibcode:1988LPI....19.1277W
    .
  11. doi:10.1086/115658
    . See p. 2045 and family 44.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=54_Alexandra&oldid=1195661608"