56 Melete
Large, dark, P-type main-belt asteroid
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56 Melete is a large and dark main-belt asteroid. It is a rather unusual P-type asteroid, probably composed of organic-rich silicates, carbon and anhydrous silicates, with possible internal water ice. The asteroid orbits the Sun with a period of 4.18 years.
Three-dimensional model of 56 Melete created based on light curve on the top with an image of the asteroid on the bottom. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt |
| Discovery date | 9 September 1857 |
| Designations | |
| (56) Melete | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɛlɪtiː/[1] |
Named after | Melete |
| Main belt | |
| Adjectives | Meletean /mɛlɪˈtiːən/ |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 December 2006 (JD 2454100.5) | |
| Aphelion | 480.683 million km (3.213 AU) |
| Perihelion | 295.717 million km (1.977 AU) |
| 388.200 million km (2.595 AU) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.238 |
| 1526.839 d (4.18 a) | |
| 267.781° | |
| Inclination | 8.072° |
| 193.478° | |
| 103.648° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 113.2 km[2] |
| Mass | (4.61 ± 0.00) × 1018 kg[3] |
Mean density | 6.00 ± 1.31[3] g/cm3 |
| 18.1 hr[2] | |
| 0.065[2][4] | |
| P[2] | |
| 8.31[2] | |
Melete was discovered by Hermann Goldschmidt from his balcony in Paris, on 9 September 1857. Its orbit was computed by E. Schubert, who named it after Melete, the Muse of meditation in Greek mythology.[5] It was originally confused for 41 Daphne before it was confirmed not to be by its second sighting on 27 August 1871.[6] In 1861, the brightness of 56 Melete was shown to vary by German astronomer Friedrich Tietjen.[7]
Melete has been studied by radar.[8] Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2007 gave a light curve with a period of 18.151 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.15 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This result is in agreement with a period of 18.1 hours independently reported in 1993 and 2007.[9]
To date, two stellar occultations by Melete have been observed successfully (in 1997 and again in 2002).[citation needed]
