94 Aurora Explained

Minorplanet:yes
Background:
  1. D6D6D6
94 Aurora
Discoverer:James Craig Watson
Discovered:6 September 1867
Mpc Name:(94) Aurora
Adjective:Aurorean [1]
Named After:Aurōra
Mp Category:Main belt
Orbit Ref:[2]
Epoch:31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Semimajor:3.16003AU
Perihelion:2.86831AU
Aphelion:3.45175abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Eccentricity:0.092315
Period:5.62 yr (2051.8 d)
Inclination:7.97343°
Asc Node:2.59859°
Arg Peri:60.8260°
Mean Anomaly:132.718°
Avg Speed:16.73 km/s
Dimensions:225 × 173 km
Density:1.676 ± 0.655/0.551 g/cm3
Surface Grav: m/s²
Escape Velocity: km/s
Rotation:7.22abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Spectral Type:C
Abs Magnitude:7.74
Albedo:
0.0395[3]
Single Temperature:~157 K
Mean Motion: / day
Observation Arc:143.72 yr (52494 d)
Uncertainty:0

94 Aurora is one of the largest main-belt asteroids. With an albedo of only 0.04, it is darker than soot, and has a primitive composition consisting of carbonaceous material. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on September 6, 1867, in Ann Arbor, and named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn.

This asteroid is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.62 years and a relatively low eccentricity of 0.092. It is spinning with a rotation period of 7.22 hours. Observations of an occultation using nine chords indicate an oval outline of 225×173 km. The asteroid's pole of rotation lies just 4–16° away from the plane of the ecliptic.

Notes and References


  1. But see 'aurora' for the first vowel.
  2. Web site: 2008-11-09 last obs . JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 94 Aurora . 13 May 2016.
  3. http://www.psi.edu/pds/resource/albedo.html Asteroid Data Sets