Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/nysa-asteroids

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

142 Polana

Main-belt asteroid


Main-belt asteroid

FieldValue
minorplanetyes
background#D6D6D6
name142 Polana
imagePolana-Mars2013.gif
captionPolana is in a 1:2 resonance with Mars
discovery_ref
discovererJ. Palisa
discovery_siteAustrian Naval Obs.
discovered28 January 1875
mpc_name(142) Polana
alt_namesA875 BA; 1923 WA;
1954 BH; 1956 XZ;
1963 SA
pronounced
named_afterPula
mp_categoryAsteroid belt
orbit_ref
observation_arc117.65 yr (42971 d)
uncertainty0
epoch31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
aphelion2.7444 AU
perihelion2.0934 AU
semimajor2.4189 AU
eccentricity0.13457
period3.76 yr (1374.1 d)
mean_anomaly140.92°
mean_motion/ day
inclination2.2379°
asc_node291.27°
arg_peri292.00°
avg_speed19.07 km/s
dimensions
55.3 ± 1.6
spectral_typeF/B
B−V=0.621±0.022
U−B=0.236±0.035
albedo
0.045 ± 0.003
rotation9.764 h
abs_magnitude10.27

1954 BH; 1956 XZ; 1963 SA 55.3 ± 1.6 B−V=0.621±0.022 U−B=0.236±0.035 0.045 ± 0.003

142 Polana is a very dark asteroid from the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on January 28, 1875, and named after the city of Pola (now Pula, Croatia), home of the Austrian Naval Observatory where he made the discovery.

It is a major member of the eponymously named Polana family, which is a subgroup of the Nysa family. The asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 55.3 km and a low albedo of 0.045. It is orbiting at a distance of 2.419 times the separation of the Earth from the Sun, with an orbital period of 3.76 years and an eccentricity of 0.14.

In the Tholen classification scheme, Polana is a primitive carbonaceous asteroid of type F, which is a subdivision of more common C-type. Under the SMASS classification taxonomy, Polana is listed as a B-type asteroid, a group that combines both the Tholen B and F types. The spectrum of this object suggests the presence of magnetite (Fe3O4), which gives it the spectrally blue coloration that is a characteristic of this SMASS class.

Mars resonance

Polana is in a 1:2 orbital resonance with Mars, meaning that Polana orbits the Sun once for every two orbits that Mars completes. This resonance helps protect the asteroid from orbital erosion: the orbital eccentricities of the resonant asteroids are clearly greater than the non-resonant asteroids. There is a peak in the number of asteroids located at 2.419 AU from the Sun. In spite of strong perturbations caused by the passing of both Jupiter and Mars, the 1:2 Mars resonance brings about stability for billions of years. There are up to 1,500 asteroids in this resonance, and the resonance between Polana and Mars will strengthen over the next million years due to Polana transitioning into a strong libration period with Mars.

References

References

  1. S. Sugita. (19 Mar 2019). "The geomorphology, color, and thermal properties of Ryugu: Implications for parent-body processes". Science.
  2. (14 August 2007). "142 Polana". JPL Small-Body Database Browser.
  3. (August 2001). "The Puzzling Case of the Nysa-Polana Family". Icarus.
  4. (December 1995). "Visible Spectroscopy of Dark, Primitive Asteroids". Astronomical Journal.
  5. (2007). "A new population of asteroids: the resonants 1:2 with Mars". Institute of Physics, Faculty of Sciences.
  6. (2009). "A New Dynamical Population of Asteroids". Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Serie de Conferencias.
  7. (September 2010). "Identification of Magnetite in B-type Asteroids". The Astronomical Journal.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 142 Polana — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report