94 Aurora is one of the largest
main-belt asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
s. 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
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
, and named after
Aurora, the
Roman goddess of the
dawn.
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
The rotation period of a celestial object (e.g., star, gas giant, planet, moon, asteroid) may refer to its sidereal rotation period, i.e. the time that the object takes to complete a single revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the ...
of 7.22 hours. Observations of an
occultation using nine
chords indicate an
oval outline of 225×173 km.
[ The asteroid's pole of rotation lies just 4–16° away from the plane of the ecliptic.][
]
Notes
References
External links
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Background asteroids
Aurora
Aurora
CP-type asteroids (Tholen)
C-type asteroids (SMASS)
18670906
Objects observed by stellar occultation
Aurora (mythology)
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