Jump to content

318 Magdalena

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

318 Magdalena
Orbital diagram
Discovery
Discovered byAuguste Charlois
Discovery date24 September 1891
Designations
(318) Magdalena
Pronunciation/mæɡdəˈlnə/[1]
Named after
Possibly Mary Magdalene
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc124.56 yr (45496 d)
Aphelion3.46477 AU (518.322 Gm)
Perihelion2.92120 AU (437.005 Gm)
3.19298 AU (477.663 Gm)
Eccentricity0.085119
5.71 yr (2084.0 d)
158.522°
0° 10m 21.886s / day
Inclination10.6573°
161.509°
296.737°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions85 km
42.49 h (1.770 d)
9.4

318 Magdalena is a main belt asteroid orbiting the Sun. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 24 September 1891 in Nice. It may be named for Mary Magdalene, who in legend travelled to Southern Gaul and is the patron saint of Provence.[3]

On April 15, 2005, UT Magdalena occulted a 10.7 mag star in the constellation Scutum for observers along a path across Australia.

Measurements made with the IRAS observatory give a diameter of 106.08 ± 0.25 km and a geometric albedo of 0.03 ± 0.01. By comparison, the MIPS photometer on the Spitzer Space Telescope gives a diameter of 105.32 ± 11.11 km and a geometric albedo of 0.03 ± 0.01.[4]

Alternative rock group The Pixies named one of their songs after the asteroid on their album Indie Cindy.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ "318 Magdalena". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. ^ "September 24 – Discovery of Asteroid 318 Magdalena (1891)". 24 September 2019.
  4. ^ Ryan, Erin Lee; et al. (April 2012), "The Kilometer-Sized Main Belt Asteroid Population as Revealed by Spitzer", arXiv:1204.1116 [astro-ph.EP]
  5. ^ Greene, Andy (27 January 2014). "Pixies' Surreal 'Magdalena' Video".
[edit]