259 Aletheia
Encyclopedia
259 Aletheia is a very large main-belt
asteroid
. It is composed of primitive carbonaceous
materials and is very dark in colour, darker than coal.
It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters
on June 28, 1886, in Clinton, New York
.
It is named after the Greek
goddess Aletheia
.
Richard P. Binzel
and Schelte Bus further added to the knowledge about this asteroid in a lightwave survey published in 2003. This project was known as Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (0.435-0.925 micrometre) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999.
Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hill Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the Minor Planet Center
.
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...
. It is composed of primitive carbonaceous
Carbonate
In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, . The name may also mean an ester of carbonic acid, an organic compound containing the carbonate group C2....
materials and is very dark in colour, darker than coal.
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 June 28, 1886, 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....
.
It is named after the Greek
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...
goddess Aletheia
Aletheia (mythology)
The word Aletheia is the Greek and Ancient Greek word for truth. Parmenides, among other Greek philosophers, used the term to personify truth. Aletheia was known to the Romans as Veritas.-External links:...
.
Richard P. Binzel
Richard P. Binzel
Richard "Rick" P. Binzel is a Professor of Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the inventor of the Torino Scale, a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.Binzel was awarded the H. C. Urey Prize...
and Schelte Bus further added to the knowledge about this asteroid in a lightwave survey published in 2003. This project was known as Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (0.435-0.925 micrometre) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999.
Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hill Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the Minor Planet Center
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory , which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory ....
.