12 Victoria

12 Victoria  

Discovery
Discovered by	John Russell Hind
Discovery date	September 13, 1850
Designations
Named after	Victoria
Alternate name(s)	none
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch July 14, 2004 (JD 2453200.5)
Aphelion	426.234 Gm (2.849 AU)
Perihelion	272.097 Gm (1.819 AU)
Semi-major axis	349.166 Gm (2.334 AU)
Eccentricity	0.221
Orbital period	1302.439 d (3.57 a)
Average orbital speed	19.50 km/s
Mean anomaly	80.591°
Inclination	8.363°
Longitude of ascending node	235.547°
Argument of perihelion	69.747°
Proper orbital elements
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	112.8 ± 3.1 km (IRAS)[1]
Mass	1.5×1018 kg[citation needed] (Mass and density assumed)[2]
Mean density	2 ? g/cm³
Equatorial surface gravity	0.0315 m/s²
Escape velocity	0.0596 km/s
Rotation period	0.3608 d (8.6599 h)[1]
Albedo	0.177 (geometric)[1]
Temperature	~178 K
Spectral type	S-type asteroid[1]
Apparent magnitude	8.68[3] to 12.82
Absolute magnitude (H)	7.24[1]
Angular diameter	0.188" to 0.04"

12 Victoria ( /vɪkˈtɔriə/, Latin: Uictōria) is a large main-belt asteroid.

It was discovered by J. R. Hind on September 13, 1850.

Victoria is officially named after the Roman goddess of victory, but the name also honours Queen Victoria. The goddess Victoria (Nike for the Greeks) was the daughter of Styx by the Titan Pallas. The coincidence with the name of the then-reigning queen caused quite a controversy at the time, and B. A. Gould, editor of the prestigious Astronomical Journal, adopted the alternate name Clio (now used by 84 Klio), proposed by the discoverer. However, W. C. Bond, of the Harvard College Observatory, then the highest authority on astronomy in America, held that the mythological condition was fulfilled and the name therefore acceptable, and his opinion eventually prevailed.^[4]

Radar and speckle interferometry observations show that the shape of Victoria is elongated, and it is suspected to be a binary asteroid.^[5]

Victoria has only ever been observed to occult a star thrice since its discovery.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 12 Victoria". 2008-11-06 last obs. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=12. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 
2. ^ Using a spherical radius of 56.4 km; volume of a sphere * an assumed density of 2 g/cm³ yields a mass (m=d*v) of 1.502×10¹⁸ kg
3. ^ "AstDys (12) Victoria Ephemerides". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. http://hamilton.dm.unipi.it/astdys/index.php?pc=1.1.3.1&n=12&oc=500&y0=1971&m0=7&d0=7&h0=00&mi0=00&y1=1971&m1=7&d1=12&h1=00&mi1=00&ti=1.0&tiu=days. Retrieved 2010-06-26. 
4. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of minor planet names, Volume 1 (5th ed.). Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 16. ISBN 3-540-00238-3. 
5. ^ Other reports of asteroid/TNO companions

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Ephemeris
• "Elements and Ephemeris for (12) Victoria". Minor Planet Center. http://scully.cfa.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/returnprepeph.cgi?d=b2011&o=00012.  (displays Elong from Sun and V mag for 2011)