8 Flora

8 Flora
Discovery
Discovered byJ.R. Hind
Discovery date18 October 1847
Designations
(8) Flora
Pronunciation/ˈflɔːrə/
Named after
Flōra
Main belt (Flora family)
AdjectivesFlorian /ˈflɔːriən/
Symbol (historical)
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 31 March 2024
(JD 2460400.5)
Aphelion2.55 AU (381 million km)
Perihelion1.86 AU (278 million km)
2.20 AU (329 million km)
Eccentricity0.15650
3.27 yr (1192.84 d)
317.3°
Inclination5.889°
110.87°
1 February 2024
285.6°
Earth MOID0.87 AU (130 million km)
Proper orbital elements[2]
2.2014 AU
0.1449
5.574°
110.2 deg / yr
3.26679 yr
(1193.194 d)
Precession of perihelion
32.017 arcsec / yr
Precession of the ascending node
−35.51 arcsec / yr
Physical characteristics
Dimensions136 km × 136 km × 113 km[3]
145 km × 145 km × 120 km[4]
146±2 km[5]
128 km[3]
Flattening0.18[a]
Mass(4±1.6)×1018 kg[5]
(6.62±0.84)×1018 kg[b][6]
Mean density
2.4±1.0 g/cm3[5]
3.04±1.39 g/cm3[6]
0.533 d (12.799 h)[1]
0.224 (calculated)[5]
0.226[1]
S[1]
7.9[7] to 11.6
6.61[1]
0.21" to 0.053"

8 Flora is a large, bright main-belt asteroid. It is the innermost large asteroid: no asteroid closer to the Sun has a diameter above 25 kilometres (20% that of Flora), and not until 20-km 149 Medusa was discovered was an asteroid known to orbit at a closer mean distance.[8] It is the seventh-brightest asteroid with a mean opposition magnitude of +8.7.[9] Flora can reach a magnitude of +8.1 at a favorable opposition near perihelion, such as occurred in November 2020 when it was 0.88 AU (132 million km; 340 LD) from Earth.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Flora-POE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Baer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Torppa2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e P. Vernazza et al. (2021) VLT/SPHERE imaging survey of the largest main-belt asteroids: Final results and synthesis. Astronomy & Astrophysics 54, A56
  6. ^ a b James Baer, Steven Chesley & Robert Matson (2011) "Astrometric masses of 26 asteroids and observations on asteroid porosity." The Astronomical Journal, Volume 141, Number 5
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pasachoff1983 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Binsel, Richard P.; Gehrels, Tom and Matthews, Mildred Shapley (editors); Asteroids II; published 1989 by University of Arizona Press; pp. 1038-1040. ISBN 0-8165-1123-3
  9. ^ The Brightest Asteroids (archived)
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Horizons2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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