444_Gyptis

444 Gyptis

444 Gyptis

Main-belt asteroid

Gyptis, minor planet designation: 444 Gyptis, is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by J. Coggia on March 31, 1899, in Marseilles. It is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.[4]

Quick Facts Discovery, Discovered by ...

In 2004, Kochetova estimated Gyptis to have a mass of 1.25×1019 kg with a high density of 5.53 g/cm3.[3] The adaptive optics instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory showed an object with a diameter of 129 km, which is much smaller than the estimate of 160 km from the IRAS observatory measurements, indicating an irregular shape. The size ratio between the major and minor axes is estimated at 1.40.[5] Observations of an occultation on October 14, 2007, produced six chords indicating a cross-section ellipsoid of 179×150 km.[2]

Between 1990 and 2021, 444 Gyptis has been observed to occult 17 stars.

References

  1. [1]
    "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 444 Gyptis (1899 EL)" (2008-11-01 last obs). Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  2. [2]
    "2007 European Asteroidal Occultation Results". euraster.net (a website for Asteroidal Occultation Observers in Europe). 14 October 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2008. (Chords)
  3. [3]
    Jim Baer (2008). "Recent Asteroid Mass Determinations". Personal Website. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  4. [4]
    Fornasier, S.; et al. (February 1999), "Spectroscopic comparison of aqueous altered asteroids with CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, 135: 65−73, Bibcode:1999A&AS..135...65F, doi:10.1051/aas:1999161.
  5. [5]
    Marchis, F.; et al. (November 2006), "Shape, size and multiplicity of main-belt asteroids. I. Keck Adaptive Optics survey", Icarus, 185 (1): 39–63, Bibcode:2006Icar..185...39M, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.06.001, PMC 2600456, PMID 19081813.


Stub icon

This article about a C-type asteroid native to the asteroid belt is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 444_Gyptis, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.