80 Sappho Explained

Minorplanet:yes
Background:
  1. D6D6D6
80 Sappho
Symbol: (astrological)
Discoverer:N. R. Pogson
Discovery Site:Madras Obs.
Discovered:2 May 1864
Mpc Name:(80) Sappho
Adjective:Sapphonian [1]
Sapphoian [2]
Mp Category:main-belt
Uncertainty:0
Epoch:4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Aphelion:2.7544abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Perihelion:1.837AU
Semimajor:2.2957AU
Eccentricity:0.19980
Period:3.48 yr (1270.5 d)
Inclination:8.676°
Mean Anomaly:287.260°
Mean Motion: / day
Asc Node:218.699°
Arg Peri:139.662°
Moid:0.843652AU
Jupiter Moid:2.7319AU
Tisserand:3.553
Pole Ecliptic Lat:194°
Pole Ecliptic Lon:−26°
Mass:(4.6 ± 2.11/0.86) kg
Density:3.055 ± 1.400/0.569 g/cm3
Rotation:14.03087 h
Albedo:
0.185 [3]
Spectral Type:S-type asteroid
Abs Magnitude:7.98
Magnitude:9.38 to 13.6

80 Sappho is a large, S-type (stony) main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by English astronomer Norman Pogson on 2 May 1864, and is named after Sappho, the Archaic Greece poet. The asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of with a period of 3.48 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.2. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 8.68° to the plane of the ecliptic.

13-cm radar observations of this asteroid from the Arecibo Observatory between 1980 and 1985 were used to produce a diameter estimate of 83km (52miles). Hanuš et al. (2013) confirmed the polar axis has ecliptic coordinates = and listed a rotation period of 14.03087 h.

Sappho (at apparent magnitude 11.8) occulted the magnitude 7.2 star HIP 24403 in the constellation of Taurus on 16 September 2018 at 8:54 UT.[4] Sacramento and Salt Lake City were the two major cities located underneath the shadow path. Data from this event will help improve the shape model of the asteroid. During the occultation the asteroid was roughly from Earth with an uncertainty of ±76 km.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Catherine Hobbs (1995) Nineteenth-century Women Learn to Write
  2. The Thistle, January 1903, vol. I, no. 2, p. 4
  3. 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 .
  4. Web site: (80) Sappho / HIP 24403 event on 2018 Sep 16, 08:54 UT. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170915133027/http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2018_09/0916_80_56486.htm . 15 September 2017 .