74 Galatea

74 Galatea
Orbital diagram
Discovery
Discovered byErnst Wilhelm Tempel
Discovery dateAugust 29, 1862
Designations
(74) Galatea
Pronunciation/ɡæləˈtə/[1]
Named after
Galatea
Main belt
AdjectivesGalatean
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion515.376 Gm (3.445 AU)
Perihelion315.937 Gm (2.112 AU)
415.657 Gm (2.778 AU)
Eccentricity0.240
1691.658 d (4.63 a)
36.838°
Inclination4.075°
197.313°
174.519°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions120.67 ± 7.15 km[3]
Mass(6.13 ± 5.36) × 1018 kg[3]
Mean density
6.66 ± 5.94[3] g/cm3
17.270[4] h
0.043[5]
C[6]
8.66

74 Galatea is a large C-type main-belt asteroid. Its carbonaceous surface is very dark in color with an albedo of just 0.034.[7] Galatea was found by the prolific comet discoverer Ernst Tempel on August 29, 1862, in Marseilles, France. It was his third asteroid discovery. It is named after one of the two Galateas in Greek mythology. A stellar occultation by Galatea was observed on September 8, 1987. The name Galatea has also been given to one of Neptune's satellites.

Photometric observations of this asteroid made during 2008 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave a light curve with a period of 17.270 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 ± 0.01 in magnitude. The curve displays four minima and four maxima.[4] The spectra of the asteroid does not display evidence of aqueous alteration.[7]

  1. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference JPL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Carry2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Pilcher2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Asteroid Data Sets Archived 2009-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ *JPL Small-Body Database Browser
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Fornasier1999 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).