34 Circe
Main-belt asteroid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
34 Circe is a large, very dark main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer J. Chacornac on 6 April 1855, and named after Circe, the bewitching queen of Aeaea island in Greek mythology.
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A three-dimensional model of 34 Circe based on its light curve | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. Chacornac |
| Discovery date | 6 April 1855 |
| Designations | |
Designation | (34) Circe |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsɜːrsiː/[1] |
Named after | Circe |
| 1965 JL | |
| Main belt | |
| Adjectives | Circean /sərˈsiːən/[2] |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) | |
| Aphelion | 2.975 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.401 AU |
| 2.688 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.107 |
| 4.407 yr (1609.636 d) | |
Average orbital speed | 18.12 km/s |
| 305.209° | |
| Inclination | 5.496° |
| 184.294° | |
| 329.414° | |
| Jupiter MOID | 2.023 AU |
| TJupiter | 3.358 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 113.02 ± 4.90 km[4] |
| Mass | (3.66 ± 0.03) × 1018 kg[4] |
Mean density | 4.83 ± 0.63 g/cm3[4] |
| ~0.0317 m/s² | |
| ~0.0600 km/s | |
| 0.5063 d (12.15 h) [3] | |
| Albedo | 0.0541 [3] |
| Temperature | ~172 K |
Spectral type | C |
| 8.51 | |
The spectrum of this object matches a C-type asteroid, suggesting a carbonaceous composition. It has a cross-section size of 113 km and is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.40 years. Photometric observations of this asteroid made during 2007 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave an asymmetrical bimodal light curve with a period of 12.176 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.17 ± 0.02 in magnitude.[5] The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.[6]
