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A three-dimensional model of 93 Minerva based on its light curve.
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| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | James Craig Watson |
| Discovery site | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Discovery date | 24 August 1867 |
| Designations | |
|
Named after
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Minerva |
| 1949 QN2, A902 DA | |
| Main belt | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 146.14 yr (53379 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.1429 AU (470.17 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.3711 AU (354.71 Gm) |
| 2.7570 AU (412.44 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.13998 |
| 4.58 yr (1672.0 d) | |
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Average orbital speed
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~17.86 km/s |
| 262.022° | |
| 0° 12m 55.116s / day | |
| Inclination | 8.56143° |
| 4.06265° | |
| 274.543° | |
| Earth MOID | 1.37394 AU (205.538 Gm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 2.05666 AU (307.672 Gm) |
| Jupiter Tisserand parameter | 3.313 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions |
141.55±4.0 km (IRAS) 156km (spherical) |
| Mass | 3.7×1018 kg (assumed) |
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Mean density
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1.9 g/cm³ |
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Equatorial surface gravity
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4.139 cm/s2 (0.004221 g) |
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Equatorial escape velocity
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8.035 cm/s |
| 5.982 h (0.2493 d) | |
| 0.0733±0.004 | |
| Temperature | ~168 K |
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C G? |
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| 8.0 | |
93 Minerva (/mᵻˈnɜːrvə/ mi-NUR-və) is a large trinary main-belt asteroid. It is a C-type asteroid, meaning that it has a dark surface and possibly a primitive carbonaceous composition. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on August 24, 1867, and named after Minerva, the Roman equivalent of Athena, goddess of wisdom. An occultation of a star by Minerva was observed in France, Spain and the United States on November 22, 1982. An occultation diameter of ~170 km was measured from the observations. Since then two more occultations have been observed, which give an estimated mean diameter of ~150 km for diameter.
On August 16, 2009, at 13:36 UT, the Keck Observatory's adaptive optics system revealed that the asteroid 93 Minerva possesses 2 small moons. They are 4 and 3 km in diameter and the projected separations from Minerva correspond to 630 km (8.8 x Rprimary) and 380 km (5.2 x Rprimary) respectively. They have been named Aegis and Gorgoneion.