73 Klytia Explained

Minorplanet:yes
Background:
  1. D6D6D6
73 Klytia
Discovered:April 7, 1862
Mpc Name:(73) Klytia
Pronounced:[1]
Adjective:Klytian
Named After:Κλυτία Klytiā
Epoch:December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Semimajor:398.708 Gm (2.665 AU)
Perihelion:382.115 Gm (2.554 AU)
Aphelion:415.302 Gm (2.776 AU)
Eccentricity:0.042
Period:1589.253 d (4.35 a)
Inclination:2.373°
Asc Node:7.213°
Arg Peri:54.982°
Mean Anomaly:214.253°
Dimensions:44.4 km
Rotation:8.283065 h
Abs Magnitude:8.9
Albedo:0.225[2]

73 Klytia is a main-belt asteroid. It was the second and last asteroid discovery by the prolific comet discoverer Horace Tuttle, on April 7, 1862. It is named after Clytia, who loved Helios in Greek mythology. Of the first one hundred numbered asteroids, Klytia is the smallest.

Based upon photometry observations between 1984 and 2007, it has a sidereal rotation period of 8.283065 h with an amplitude that can range up to in magnitude. The lightcurve shows some shape irregularities. There are two valid solutions for the pole's ecliptic coordinates: (λ1, β1) = (38°, +75°) and (λ2, β2) = (237°, +73°).

Notes and References

  1. 'Clytie, Clytia' in Benjamin Smith (1903) The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  2. Web site: Asteroid Data Sets . 13 January 2007 . 17 December 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091217104722/http://www.psi.edu/pds/resource/albedo.html . dead .