240 Vanadis

240 Vanadis
Orbital diagram
Discovery
Discovered byA. Borrelly
Discovery date27 August 1884
Designations
(240) Vanadis
Pronunciation/ˈvɑːnə.dɪs/
Named after
Freyja
A884 QB
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc131.61 yr (48072 d)
Aphelion3.2134 AU (480.72 Gm)
Perihelion2.1178 AU (316.82 Gm)
2.6656 AU (398.77 Gm)
Eccentricity0.20551
4.35 yr (1,589.6 d)
18.25 km/s
60.5202°
0° 13m 35.292s / day
Inclination2.1043°
115.191°
300.174°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions103.90±2.5 km[1]
94.03±5.37 km[2]
Mass(1.10 ± 0.92) × 1018 kg[2]
Mean density
2.53±2.15 g/cm3[2]
10.64 h (0.443 d)
0.0411±0.002
C
9.00

240 Vanadis is a fairly large main-belt asteroid with a diameter of around 100 km. It was discovered by A. Borrelly on August 27, 1884, in Marseilles and was named after Freyja (Vanadis), the Norse fertility goddess. The asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.67 AU with a period of 4.35 yr and an orbital eccentricity of 0.206. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 2.10° to the plane of the ecliptic.[1]

Photometric observations of the asteroid made during 2022 were used to produce a light curve that showed a rotation period of 10.565±0.002 h with a brightness variation of 0.07±0.01 in magnitude. This is consistent with earlier estimates.[3] It is very dark and is classified as a C-type asteroid, probably composed of primitive carbonaceous material.

  1. ^ a b c "240 Vanadis". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Carry2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pilcher_2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).