94 Aurora
Main-belt asteroid
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94 Aurora is one of the largest main-belt asteroids. With an albedo of only 0.04, it is darker than soot, and has a primitive composition consisting of carbonaceous material. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on September 6, 1867, in Ann Arbor, and named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn.
A three-dimensional model of 94 Aurora based on its light curve on the top with the image of the asteroid on the bottom. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | James Craig Watson |
| Discovery date | 6 September 1867 |
| Designations | |
| (94) Aurora | |
| Pronunciation | /əˈrɔːrə, ɒ-/[1] |
Named after | Aurōra |
| Main belt | |
| Adjectives | Aurorean /ɔːˈrɔːriən/[2] |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 143.72 yr (52494 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.45175 AU (516.374 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.86831 AU (429.093 Gm) |
| 3.16003 AU (472.734 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.092315 |
| 5.62 yr (2051.8 d) | |
Average orbital speed | 16.73 km/s |
| 132.718° | |
| 0° 10m 31.638s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.97343° |
| 2.59859° | |
| 60.8260° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 225 × 173 km[4] |
| 204.89±3.6 km (IRAS)[3] | |
| Mass | (6.606 ± 2.584/2.173)×1018 kg[5] |
Mean density | 1.676 ± 0.655/0.551 g/cm3[5][a] |
Equatorial surface gravity | 0.042 m/s² |
Equatorial escape velocity | 0.0928 km/s |
| 7.22 h (0.301 d)[3] | |
| 0.0395±0.001[3] 0.0395[6] | |
| Temperature | ~157 K |
| C[3] | |
| 7.74[3] | |
This asteroid is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.62 years and a relatively low eccentricity of 0.092. It is spinning with a rotation period of 7.22 hours. Observations of an occultation using nine chords indicate an oval outline of 225×173 km.[4] The asteroid's pole of rotation lies just 4–16° away from the plane of the ecliptic.[7]
Notes
- Assuming a diameter of 196 ± 4 km.
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