437 Rhodia is a Main belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 16 July 1898 in Nice. It was named after one of the Oceanid nymphs of Greek mythology.[4] This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.39 AU with a period of 3.69 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.25. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 7.3° to the plane of the ecliptic.[2] 437 Rhodia was originally a proposed fly-by target of interest for the Rosetta mission.[5]

437 Rhodia
Discovery
Discovered byAuguste Charlois
Discovery date16 July 1898
Designations
(437) Rhodia
Pronunciation/rˈdə/[1]
Named after
Ῥόδεια Rhodeia
1898 DP
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc117.73 yr (43,001 d)
Aphelion2.9793 AU (445.70 Gm)
Perihelion1.79242 AU (268.142 Gm)
2.38586 AU (356.920 Gm)
Eccentricity0.24873
3.69 yr (1,346.1 d)
355.267°
0° 16m 2.82s / day
Inclination7.3442°
263.22°
62.058°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions13.12±0.7 km[2]
56 h (2.3 d)
0.7035±0.084[2][3]
10.41[2]

Analysis of the bimodal light curve generated using photometric data show a lengthy rotation period of 433.2 ± 0.5 hours (18.05 ± 0.02 days) with a brightness variation of 0.35±0.05 in magnitude. It also appears to be tumbling.[6] 437 Rhodia is classified as an E-type asteroid with a diameter of approximately 13 km. This object has the highest albedo in the IRAS dataset, with a value of 0.70±0.08.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 437 Rhodia (1898 DP)" (2008-05-13 last obs). Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  3. ^ Johnston, Wm. Robert (28 June 2003). "Asteroid albedos: graphs of data". Johnston's Archive. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  4. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2012), Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p. 48, ISBN 9783642297182.
  5. ^ Barucci, M. A.; et al. (January 2005), "Asteroid target selection for the new Rosetta mission baseline. 21 Lutetia and 2867 Steins" (PDF), Astronomy and Astrophysics, 430: 313–317, Bibcode:2005A&A...430..313B, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041505.
  6. ^ Pilcher, Frederick; Polakis, Tom (July 2018), "A Photometric Study of 437 Rhodia", Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, 45 (3): 287–289, Bibcode:2018MPBu...45..287P.
  7. ^ Fornasier, S.; et al. (July 2008), "Visible and near infrared spectroscopic investigation of E-type asteroids, including 2867 Steins, a target of the Rosetta mission" (PDF), Icarus, 196 (1): 119–134, Bibcode:2008Icar..196..119F, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2008.02.015, S2CID 122794657.
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