175 Andromache Explained

Minorplanet:yes
Mpc Name:(175) Andromache
Background:
  1. D6D6D6
175 Andromache
Alt Names:A877 TA; 1893 KA;
1895 XB; 1946 MB;
1946 OD
Pronounced:[1]
Discovered:1 October 1877
Semimajor:3.1853AU
Perihelion:2.4442AU
Aphelion:3.9264abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Period:5.69 yr (2076.5 d)
Inclination:3.2184°
Eccentricity:0.23267
Rotation:8.324abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Abs Magnitude:8.06
8.31
Epoch:31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Asc Node:21.353°
Arg Peri:320.41°
Mean Motion: / day
Observation Arc:138.18 yr (50472 d)
Uncertainty:0
Moid:1.43641AU
Jupiter Moid:1.4787AU
Tisserand:3.153
Named After:Andromache

175 Andromache is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Canadian-American astronomer J. C. Watson on October 1, 1877, and named after Andromache, wife of Hector during the Trojan War. Watson's telegram to Europe announcing the discovery became lost, and so notification did not arrive until several weeks later. As a result, another minor planet, later designated 176 Iduna, was initially assigned the number 175.

The initial orbital elements for 175 Andromache proved unreliable, and it was only in 1893 that an accurate ephemeris was produced. Because the orbital period is fairly close to being double that of the giant planet Jupiter, 175 Andromache initially became of interest in the study of gravitational perturbations.

Based upon its spectrum, this is classified as a C-type asteroid. It has a diameter estimated in the range 101–107 km with a roughly circular shape. The size ratio between the major and minor axes is 1.09 ± 0.09, as determined from the W. M. Keck Observatory. An earlier result published in 2000 gave a larger size ratio of 1.20.

Notes and References

  1. Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language