323 Brucia
Phocaea asteroid
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323 Brucia is a stony Phocaea asteroid and former Mars-crosser from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 33 kilometers (21 miles) in diameter. It was the first asteroid to be discovered by the use of astrophotography.[14]
Lightcurve-base 3D-model of 323 Brucia. | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | M. F. Wolf |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 22 December 1891 |
| Designations | |
| (323) Brucia | |
| Pronunciation | /ËbruËsiÉ, ËbruËÊÉ/ |
Named after | Catherine Wolfe Bruce[2] (American philanthropist) |
| 1934 JC · A923 JA | |
| main-belt · (inner) Phocaea[3] · ex-Mars-crosser[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 125.35 yr (45,785 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0979 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6662 AU |
| 2.3820 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3005 |
| 3.68 yr (1,343 days) | |
| 106.64° | |
| 0° 16m 5.16s / day | |
| Inclination | 24.230° |
| 97.398° | |
| 291.26° | |
| Mars MOID | 0.3464 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 27.714±0.300 km[5] 29.23±2.92 km[6] 32.395±0.317 km[7] 35.82±1.7 km[4][8] 37.29±0.76 km[9] |
| 9.46 h[10] 9.4602±0.0001 h[11] 9.463±0.005 h[12] 10 h[4] | |
| 0.165±0.007[9] 0.1765±0.018[8] 0.2174±0.0421[7] 0.265±0.053[6] 0.295±0.046[5] | |
| Tholen = S[1][4] BâV = 0.893[1] UâB = 0.480[1] | |
| 9.09±0.58[13] · 9.73[1][4][6][7][8][9] | |
Description
Brucia was also the first of over 200 asteroids discovered by Max Wolf, a pioneer in that method of finding astronomical objects. Discovered on 22 December 1891, when he was 28 years old, it was named in honour of Catherine Wolfe Bruce, a noted patroness of the science of astronomy, who had donated $10,000 for the construction of the telescope used by Wolf.[2][15]
The asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family (701),[3] a large family of stony S-type asteroids with nearly two thousand known members.[16]:â23â It was an outer Mars-crossing asteroid with perihelion less than 1.666 AU[1] until July 2017. For comparison, asteroid 4222 Nancita will become a Mars-crosser in June 2019. (6454) 1991 UG1 was a Mars-crossing asteroid until January 2016.[17][needs update]
Brucia has a synodic rotation period of 9.463 hours (as of 1998).[4] According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, Brucia measures 35.82 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.1765.[8]
