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54 Alexandra

Main-belt asteroid

Field	Value
minorplanet	yes
background	#D6D6D6
name	54 Alexandra
image	54 Alexandra.png
caption	A three-dimensional model of 54 Alexandra based on its light curve (top) and images of the asteroid (bottom)
discovery_ref
discoverer	H. Goldschmidt
discovered	10 September 1858
mpc_name	(54) Alexandra
pronounced
adjective	Alexandrian
named_after	Alexander von Humboldt
(German explorer)
mp_category	Main belt
epoch	December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
semimajor	405.763 million km (2.712 AU)
perihelion	326.043 million km (2.179 AU)
aphelion	485.483 million km (3.245 AU)
eccentricity	0.196
period	1631.620 day
inclination	11.804°
asc_node	313.446°
arg_peri	345.594°
pole_ecliptic_lat
pole_ecliptic_lon
mean_anomaly	103.809°
dimensions	160 × 135 km (± 1 km)
mean_diameter	154.137 km
mass
density
rotation	18.14 h
spectral_type	Tholen C
SMASS C
abs_magnitude	7.66
albedo	0.056

(German explorer) SMASS C

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.

Description

On May 17, 2005, this asteroid occulted a faint star (magnitude 8.5) and the event was observed and timed in a number of locations within the U.S. and Mexico. As a result, a silhouette profile was produced, yielding a roughly oval cross-section with dimensions of 160 × 135 km (± 1 km). The mass of the asteroid can be estimated based upon the mutually perturbing effects of other bodies, yielding an estimate of .

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. Alexandra has been studied by radar. 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. 145 Adeona was subsequently assigned to the Adeona family, with Alexandra and Panopaea being dropped.

In popular culture

In the Swedish film Aniara, 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

"Alexandra". [[Oxford University Press]]}}
{{dict.com.
"Asteroid Data Sets".
D.W. Dunham, "Upcoming Asteroid Occultations", ''Sky & Telescope'', June, 2006, p. 63.

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.

background-asteroids discoveries-by-hermann-goldschmidt named-minor-planets c-type-asteroids-(tholen) c-type-asteroids-(smass) astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1858

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