205 Martha Explained

Minorplanet:yes
Background:
  1. D6D6D6
205 Martha
Discovered:13 October 1879
Mpc Name:(205) Martha
Pronounced:[1]
Alt Names:A879 TB
Epoch:31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Semimajor:2.7771AU
Perihelion:2.6783AU
Aphelion:2.8758abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Eccentricity:0.035571
Period:4.63 yr (1690.3 d)
Inclination:10.696°
Asc Node:211.792°
Arg Peri:177.281°
Avg Speed:17.87 km/s
Rotation:14.911abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Abs Magnitude:9.23
Mean Motion: / day
Orbit Ref:[2]
Observation Arc:136.51 yr (49860 d)
Uncertainty:0

205 Martha is a large main belt asteroid. It is a dark, primitive carbonaceous C-type asteroid. This object was discovered by Johann Palisa on 13 October 1879, in Pola and was named after Martha, a woman in the New Testament.

Efforts to determine the rotation period for this asteroid have produced wildly different results, in large part because the actual period is close to half of an Earth day. A study performed during 2013 showed that the light curve changed significantly during the observation period, adding to the difficulty. This study gave a synodic rotation period of 14.905 ± 0.001 h.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. Web site: 205 Martha . . . 12 May 2016.