Minorplanet: | yes |
Mpc Name: | (172) Baucis |
Background: |
|
172 Baucis | |
Alt Names: | A877 CA; 1921 EE |
Pronounced: | [1] |
Discovered: | 5 February 1877 |
Semimajor: | 2.3799AU |
Perihelion: | 2.1073AU |
Aphelion: | 2.6525abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
Period: | 3.67 yr (1341.0 d) |
Inclination: | 10.028° |
Eccentricity: | 0.11454 |
Rotation: | 27.417abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
Abs Magnitude: | 8.79 |
Epoch: | 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) |
Asc Node: | 331.98° |
Arg Peri: | 359.20° |
Mean Motion: | / day |
Observation Arc: | 133.62 yr (48806 d) |
Uncertainty: | 0 |
Moid: | 1.09593AU |
Jupiter Moid: | 2.67257AU |
Tisserand: | 3.510 |
Named After: | Baucis |
172 Baucis is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly on February 5, 1877, and named after a fictional character in the Greek legend of Baucis and Philemon. The adjectival form of the name is Baucidian. It is classified as an S-type asteroid based upon its spectrum.
Photometric observations of this asteroid from the southern hemisphere during 2003 gave a light curve that indicated a slow synodic rotation period of 27.417 ± 0.013 hours and a brightness variation of 0.25 in magnitude.
Polarimetric study of this asteroid reveals anomalous properties that suggests the regolith consists of a mixture of low and high albedo material. This may have been caused by fragmentation of an asteroid substrate with the spectral properties of CO3/CV3 carbonaceous chondrites.