185 Eunike

Orbital characteristics [ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html 1]
Orbit Orbit In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...  type	Main belt Asteroid belt The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
Semimajor axis	2.738 AU Astronomical unit An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....
Perihelion distance	2.389 AU Astronomical unit An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....
Aphelion distance	3.088 AU Astronomical unit An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....
Orbital period Orbital period The orbital period is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.There are several kinds of...	4.53 years
Inclination Inclination Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...	23.25°
Eccentricity	0.128
Physical characteristics [ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html 1]
Diameter Diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...	157.5 km
Rotation period Rotation period The rotation period of an astronomical object is the time it takes to complete one revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the background stars...	10.83 hours
Spectral class	C C-type asteroid C-type asteroids are carbonaceous asteroids. They are the most common variety, forming around 75% of known asteroids, and an even higher percentage in the outer part of the asteroid belt beyond 2.7 AU, which is dominated by this asteroid type...
Abs. magnitude Absolute magnitude Absolute magnitude is the measure of a celestial object's intrinsic brightness. it is also the apparent magnitude a star would have if it were 32.6 light years away from Earth...	7.62
Albedo Albedo Albedo , or reflection coefficient, is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of a surface. It is defined as the ratio of reflected radiation from the surface to incident radiation upon it...  4	0.064
History 2
Discoverer	C. H. F. Peters Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters was a German-American astronomer, and one of the first to discover asteroids.... , 1878

185 Eunike is a dark and very large main-belt

Asteroid belt

The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...

 asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

, with an approximate diameter of 157 kilometres. It has a primitive carbonaceous

Carbonaceous

Carbonaceous is the defining attribute of a substance rich in carbon. Particularly, carbonaceous hydrocarbons are very unsaturated, high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons, having an elevated carbon:hydrogen ratio....

 composition.

It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters

Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters

Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters was a German-American astronomer, and one of the first to discover asteroids....

 on March 1, 1878, in Clinton, New York

Clinton, Oneida County, New York

Clinton is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It was named for George Clinton, a royal governor of the colony of New York....

 and named after Eunike, a Nereid in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 whose name means 'happy victory'. The name was chosen to celebrate the Treaty of San Stefano

Treaty of San Stefano

The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...

 (1878).

There have been three observed occultation

Occultation

An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The word is used in astronomy . It can also refer to any situation wherein an object in the foreground blocks from view an object in the background...

s of stars by Eunike.

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java)