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3908 Nyx
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Hans-Emil Schuster |
| Discovery date: | August 6, 1980 |
| Alternative names: | 1980 PA; 1988 XB1 |
| Minor planet category: | Amor; Mars-crosser |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5) | |
| Aphelion distance: | 420.707 Gm (2.812 AU) |
| Perihelion distance: | 156.151 Gm (1.044 AU) |
| Semi-major axis: | 288.429 Gm (1.928 AU) |
| Eccentricity: | 0.459 |
| Orbital period: | 977.843 d (2.68 a) |
| Avg. orbital speed: | 20.27 km/s |
| Mean anomaly: | 218.206° |
| Inclination: | 2.180° |
| Longitude of ascending node: | 261.560° |
| Argument of perihelion: | 126.177° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions: | 1.04 ± 0.16 km |
| Mass: | 1.0–8.4×1012 kg |
| Mean density: | 2.0? g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity: | 0.0003–0.0006 m/s² |
| Escape velocity: | 0.0005–0.0011 km/s |
| Rotation period: | 4.42601 h |
| Albedo: | 0.10? |
| Temperature: | ~200? K |
| Spectral type: | V |
| Absolute magnitude: | 17.4 |
3908 Nyx is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster on August 6, 1980, and is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, after which Pluto's moon Nix is also named. It is 1-2 km in diameter and is a V-type asteroid, meaning that it may be a fragment of the asteroid 4 Vesta.
In 2000, radar observations conducted at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories produced a model of Nyx' shape; the asteroid can best be described as spherical but with many protruding lumps.
| Minor planets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous minor planet | 3908 Nyx | Next minor planet |
| List of asteroids | ||
Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Main belt · Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Damocloids · Comets · Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt • Scattered disc • Oort cloud)
For other objects and regions, see Asteroid groups and families, Binary asteroids, Asteroid moons and the Solar System.
For a complete listing, see List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names.