53 Kalypso

53 Kalypso
Three-dimensional model of 53 Kalypso created based on light-curve.
Discovery[1]
Discovered byKarl Theodor Robert Luther
Discovery date4 April 1858
Designations
(53) Kalypso
Pronunciation/kəˈlɪps/[2]
Named after
Calypso
Main belt
AdjectivesKalypsonian /kælɪpˈsniən/[3]
Kalypsoian /kælɪpˈs.iən/
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion471.807 Gm (3.154 AU)
Perihelion311.998 Gm (2.086 AU)
391.903 Gm (2.620 AU)
Eccentricity0.204
1548.736 d (4.24 a)
98.113°
Inclination5.153°
143.813°
312.330°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions115.4 km[4]
Mass(1.294 ± 0.520/0.412)×1018 kg[5]
Mean density
1.625 ± 0.653/0.517 g/cm3[5][a]
9.036[6] h
0.040[4][7]
8.81[4]

53 Kalypso is a large and very dark main belt asteroid that was discovered by German astronomer Robert Luther on April 4, 1858, at Düsseldorf.[1] It is named after Calypso, a sea nymph in Greek mythology, a name it shares with Calypso, a moon of Saturn.

The orbit of 53 Kalypso places it in a mean motion resonance with the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The computed Lyapunov time for this asteroid is 19,000 years, indicating that it occupies a chaotic orbit that will change randomly over time because of gravitational perturbations of the planets.[8]

Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2005–06 gave a light curve with a period of 18.075 ± 0.005 hours and a brightness variation of 0.14 in magnitude.[9] In 2009, a photometric study from a different viewing angle was performed at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico, yielding a rotation period of 9.036 ± 0.001 with a brightness variation of 0.14 ± 0.02 magnitude. This is exactly half of the 2005–06 result. The author of the earlier study used additional data observation that favored the 9.036 hour period. The discrepancy was deemed a consequence of viewing the asteroid from different longitudes.[6]

Kalypso has been studied by radar.[10]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference IAU_MPC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  3. ^ "calypsonian". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference FiengaEtAl2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Pilcher2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Asteroid Data Sets Archived 2009-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sidlichovsky was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pray2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Radar-Detected Asteroids and Comets". NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research. Retrieved 30 October 2011.


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