| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | M. F. Wolf |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg |
| Discovery date | 9 February 1905 |
| Designations | |
| (558) Carmen | |
| 1905 QB | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 111.15 yr (40,597 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.0333 AU (453.78 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.7817 AU (416.14 Gm) |
| 2.9075 AU (434.96 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.043262 |
| 4.96 yr (1,810.8 d) | |
| 216.857° | |
| 0° 11m 55.716s / day | |
| Inclination | 8.3757° |
| 143.728° | |
| 311.756° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 29.655±0.9 km | |
| 11.387 h (0.4745 d) | |
| 0.1161±0.007 | |
| 9.09 | |
558 Carmen is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. As with a number of asteroids discovered by Max Wolf, it is named after a female character in opera, in this case the title character of Bizet's Carmen. This is classified as an M-type asteroid that spans a girth of approximately 59 km. The near infrared spectrum of this object is described as featureless. Some evidence for iron-poor orthopyroxenes on the surface has been reported.[2]