3908 Nyx
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
| 275px | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Hans-Emil Schuster |
| Discovery date | August 6, 1980 |
| Designations | |
|
Named after
|
Nyx |
| 1980 PA; 1988 XB1 | |
| Amor; Mars-crosser | |
| Adjectives | Nyctian |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5) | |
| Aphelion | 420.707 Gm (2.812 AU) |
| Perihelion | 156.151 Gm (1.044 AU) |
| 288.429 Gm (1.928 AU) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.459 |
| 977.843 d (2.68 a) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
20.27 km/s |
| 218.206° | |
| Inclination | 2.180° |
| 261.560° | |
| 126.177° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 1.04 ± 0.16 km |
| Mass | 1.0–8.4×1012 kg |
|
Mean density
|
2.0? g/cm³ |
| 0.0003–0.0006 m/s² | |
| 0.0005–0.0011 km/s | |
| 4.42601 h | |
| Albedo | 0.23 |
| Temperature | ~200? K |
|
Spectral type
|
V |
| 17.3 | |
3908 Nyx is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster on August 6, 1980, and is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, after which Pluto's moon Nix is also named. It is 1–2 km in diameter and is a V-type asteroid, meaning that it may be a fragment of the asteroid 4 Vesta.
In 2000, radar observations conducted at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories produced a model of Nyx's shape; the asteroid can best be described as spherical but with many protruding lumps.
To avoid confusion with 3908 Nyx, Pluto's moon Nix was changed from the initial proposal of the classical spelling Nyx, to Nix.[1]
See also
References
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