(34) Circe

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Asteroid
(34) Circe
Properties of the orbit ( animation )
Orbit type Middle main belt
Major semi-axis 2,685  AU
eccentricity 0.108
Perihelion - aphelion 2.396 AU - 2.974 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane 5.5 °
Length of the ascending node 184.5 °
Argument of the periapsis 329.8 °
Time of passage of the perihelion December 11, 2008
Sidereal period of rotation 4 a 147 d
Mean orbital velocity 18.1 km / s
Physical Properties
Medium diameter 114 km
Albedo 0.0541
Rotation period 12 h 9 min
Absolute brightness 8.5 likes
Spectral class
(according to Tholen) 		C.
Spectral class
(according to SMASSII) 		Ch
history
Explorer Jean Chacornac
Date of discovery April 6, 1855
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.

(34) Circe is an asteroid of the main asteroid belt discovered by Jean Chacornac on April 6, 1855 .

The celestial body was named after Kirke , the sorceress from the Odyssey , who turned Odysseus ' companions "becircte" into pigs.

Circe moves from 2.39 ( perihelion ) to 2.98 ( aphelion ) astronomical units around the sun . The orbit is inclined 5.5 ° to the ecliptic , the orbital eccentricity is 0.11.

Circe has a diameter of about 114 kilometers. However, its low self-gravity should not be sufficient to form an ellipsoid of revolution, so that a rather irregular shape is to be expected. The value for the mean diameter is derived from the absolute brightness and the value of the albedo . The latter is subject to a relatively large uncertainty, so that the value for the diameter only provides an approximate order of magnitude of the dimensions of the celestial body.

From the fluctuations in brightness due to the natural rotation and the shape, the rotation period could be determined to be 12.15 hours.