(52) Europe

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Asteroid
(52) Europe
Properties of the orbit ( animation )
Orbit type Main belt asteroid
Major semi-axis 3.097  AU
eccentricity 0.106
Perihelion - aphelion 2.767 AU - 3.427 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane 7.5 °
Length of the ascending node 128.8 °
Argument of the periapsis 344 °
Sidereal period 5 a 164 d
Mean orbital velocity 16.9 km / s
Physical Properties
Medium diameter 360 km × 315 km × 240 km
Dimensions 5.2 x 10 19Template: Infobox asteroid / maintenance / mass kg
Albedo 0.06
Medium density 3.6 g / cm³
Rotation period 5.6 h
Absolute brightness 6.3 mag
history
Explorer HMS Goldschmidt
Date of discovery February 4, 1858
Source: Unless otherwise stated, the data comes from JPL Small-Body Database Browser . The affiliation to an asteroid family is automatically determined from the AstDyS-2 database . Please also note the note on asteroid items.

(52) Europa is an asteroid of the main asteroid belt , which was discovered on February 4, 1858 by Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt . It is named after Europa , the princess from Greek mythology.

Europe moves around the Sun at a distance of 2.8 ( perihelion ) to 3.4 ( aphelion ) astronomical units in 5.4 years . The orbit is inclined 7.5 ° to the ecliptic , the orbital eccentricity is 0.11.

With a mean diameter of around 300 km, Europe is one of the largest asteroids in the main belt. It has a dark surface with an albedo of 0.06.

Occult on July 3, 2011

On July 3, 2011, a rare occultation of a fixed star in the constellation Virgo took place. The star's occultation lasted up to 17.9 seconds and was seen in a strip about 300 km wide in North America. The shape and size of the asteroid could be determined more precisely from many, exact observations of the star cover.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. www.nasa.gov Join NASA in Measuring an Asteroid. Accessed July 3, 2011