(8777) Torquata

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asteroid
(8777) Torquata
Properties of the orbit ( animation )
Epoch:  4th November 2013 ( JD 2,456,600.5)
Orbit type Middle main belt asteroid
Major semi-axis 2.7542  AU
eccentricity 0.1348
Perihelion - aphelion 2.3830 AU - 3.1253 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane 9.8930 °
Length of the ascending node 139.4180 °
Argument of the periapsis 53.0476 °
Sidereal period 4.57 a
Mean orbital velocity 17.94 km / s
Physical Properties
Absolute brightness 13.3 mag
history
Explorer Cornelis Johannes van Houten ,
Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld ,
Tom Gehrels
Date of discovery October 16, 1977
Another name 5016 T-3 , 1980 KF 1 , 1981 RN 6 , 1984 DO 2
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.

(8777) Torquata is an asteroid of the central main belt that was discovered on October 16, 1977 by the Dutch astronomer couple Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld . The discovery took place during the 3rd Trojan survey, during which Tom Gehrels surveyed field plates recorded by the 120 cm Oschin Schmidt telescope of the Palomar observatory at the University of Leiden , 17 years after the start of the Palomar-Leiden- Surveys .

Mean solar distance ( major semiaxis ), eccentricity and inclination of the orbital plane of (8777) Torquata roughly correspond to the Dora family, a group of asteroids named after (668) Dora . According to the SMASS classification ( Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey ), a spectroscopic study by Gianluca Masi , Sergio Foglia and Richard P. Binzel at (8777) Torquata assumed a bright surface, so it could, roughly speaking, be around trade an S asteroid .

(8777) Torquata was named on February 2, 1999 after the stonechat , whose scientific name is ( Saxicola torquata ). At the time the asteroid was named, the stonechat was on the Dutch Red List of Endangered Birds. The Torquata crater on the asteroid (4) Vesta, on the other hand, was named after the Vestal Virgin Iunia Torquata on November 21, 2012 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gianluca Masi, Sergio Foglia, Richard P. Binzel: Search for Unusual Spectroscopic Candidates Among 40313 minor planets from the 3rd Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog . (English)
  2. subdivision of asteroids to S-types, C-types and V-types (English)
  3. ^ Lutz D. Schmadel : Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . Springer, Heidelberg 2012, 6th edition, page 654 (English)
  4. The Vestakrater Torquata in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature of the IAU (WGPSN) / USGS