149 Medusa

Main-belt asteroid September 2018 yes #D6D6D6 149 Medusa 149Medusa (Lightcurve Inversion).png A three-dimensional model of 149 Medusa based on its light curve. Henri Joseph Perrotin 21 September 1875 (149) Medusa A875 SA; 1905 BA;1906 HB Medusa m ᵻ ' dj uː s əMedusa Main belt http://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html astorb The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database Lowell Observatory 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) 2.17472 AU Gm 2 ri2 on 2.03252 AU Gm 2 ri2 on 2.3169 AU Gm 2 ri2 on on 0.065386 1171.4 days years 2 on flip 0.93927° 159.615° 250.609° 280.686° 20.18 km/s 19.75 0.9 km 8.015 kg 2.0 g/cm3 0.0055 m/s2 0.0104 km/s S 10.79 26.023 h d on on26.038 h 0.2334 0.022 ~189 K 0.307326 ms / day 124.55 yr (45493 d) 0 1.04123 AU Gm 2 ri2 on 2.87692 AU Gm 2 ri2 on 3.683 149 Medusa is a bright-coloured, stony main-belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer J. Perrotin on September 21, 1875, and named after the Gorgon Medusa, a snake-haired monster in Greek mythology. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.17 AU with a period of 1171.4 days years 2 off out and an eccentricity of 0.065. The orbital plane is tilted slightly at an angle of 0.94° to the plane of the ecliptic. When it was discovered, Medusa was by far the smallest asteroid found (although this was not known at that time). Since then, many thousands of smaller asteroids have been found. It was also the closest asteroid to the Sun discovered up to that point, beating the long-held record of 8 Flora. It remained the closest asteroid to the Sun until 433 Eros and 434 Hungaria were found in 1898, leading to the discovery of two new families of asteroids inward from the 4:1 Kirkwood gap which forms the boundary of the main belt.December 2021 Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico, during 2010 gave a light curve with a rather long rotation period of 26.038 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.56 ± 0.03 in magnitude. References https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/NumberedMPs000001.html Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) IAU-Minor Planet Center 22 August 2016 Donald K. Yeomans 149 Medusa JPL Small-Body Database Browser NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=149 12 May 2016 . Pilcher Frederick Rotation Period Determinations for 25 Phocaea, 140 Siwa, 149 Medusa 186 Celuta, 475 Ocllo, 574 Reginhild, and 603 Timandra The Minor Planet Bulletin 38 2 76–78 April 2011 2011MPBu...38...76P . External links 149 148 Gallia 149 150 Nuwa 000149 Category:Discoveries by Henri Perrotin Category:Named minor planets 000149 18750921