| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discoverer | Annibale de Gasparis |
| Discovery Date | April 12, 1849 |
| Alternate Designations | |
| Category | Hygiea family |
| Orbital Elements Epoch July 14, 2004 ( JD 2453200.5) | |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.119 |
| Semi-Major Axis (a) | 469.345 G m (3.137 AU) |
| Perihelion (q) | 413.378 Gm (2.763 AU) |
| Aphelion (Q) | 525.311 Gm (3.511 AU) |
| Orbital Period (P) | 2029.776 d (5.56 a) |
| Mean Orbital Speed | 16.82 km/ s |
| Inclination (i) | 3.842 ° |
| Longitude of the Ascending Node (Ω) | 283.646° |
| Argument of Perihelion (ω) | 313.557° |
| Mean Anomaly (M) | 273.788° |
| Physical Characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 407.1 km |
| Mass | 1.0×1020 kg |
| Density | 2.76 g/ cm³ http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/density.html' class='external' title="http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/density.html">1 |
| Surface Gravity | 0.1603 m/s² |
| Escape Velocity | 0.2554 km/s |
| Rotation Period | 1.1510 d http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/lc.html' class='external' title="http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/lc.html">2 |
| Spectral Class | C-type asteroidC-type asteroids are carbonaceous asteroids. They form 75% of known asteroids, and are extremely dark ( albedo 0. 03), similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (types CI and CM). They dominate the outer belt beyond 2. These asteroids have approximatel |
| Absolute Magnitude | 5.43 |
| Albedo | 0.072 http://dorothy.as.arizona.edu/DSN/IRAS/index_iras.html' class='external' title="http://dorothy.as.arizona.edu/DSN/IRAS/index iras.html">3 |
| Mean Surface Temperature | ~217 KThe kelvin (symbol: K is the SI unit of temperature, and is one of the seven SI base units. It is defined by two facts: zero kelvin is absolute zero (when molecular motion stops), and one kelvin is the fraction 1/273. 16 of the thermodynamic temperature o |
Hygiea is composed of primitive carbonaceousCarbonate is an anion with a charge of -2 and an empirical formula of CO2-. An aqueous solution of carbon dioxide contains a minute amount of HCO, called carbonic acid, which dissociates to form hydrogen ions and carbonate ions. It would be a fairly stron material similar to the chondrite meteoritesA meteorite is a relatively small extra-terrestrial body that reaches the Earth's surface. While in space these bodies are called meteoroids. These are "small" asteroids, approximately boulder-sized or less, which are generally fragments resulting from th. It is the main member of the Hygiea family .
It was discovered by A. de Gasparis on April 12, 1849 in Naples, Italy. It was his first of many asteroid discoveries.
It is named after Hygieia, the greek goddess of health, daughter of Asclepius ( Aesculapius for the Romans). De Gasparis let his friend Ernesto Capocci name the asteroid to thank him for his encouragement.
The Hubble Space Telescope was able to resolve the spherical shape of the asteroid. So far there are 5 observed stellar occultations by 10 Hygiea.
| The Minor Planets |
| Vulcanoids | Main belt | Groups and Families | Near-Earth objects | Jupiter Trojans |
| Centaurs | Trans-Neptunians | Damocloids | Comets | Kuiper Belt | Oort Cloud |
| (For other objects and regions, see: Binary asteroids, Asteroid moons and the Solar system) |
| (For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids) |