171 Ophelia

Ophelia (minor planet designation: 171 Ophelia) is a large, dark Themistian asteroid[5] that was discovered by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly on 13 January 1877, and named after Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet.[6]

171 Ophelia
3D convex shape model of 171 Ophelia
Discovery
Discovered byA. Borrelly
Discovery date13 January 1877
Designations
(171) Ophelia
Pronunciation/oʊˈfiːliə/[1]
A877 AB
Main belt (Themis)
AdjectivesOphelian /ɒˈfiːliən/[2]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc122.15 yr (44615 d)
Aphelion3.5476 AU (530.71 Gm)
Perihelion2.7175 AU (406.53 Gm)
3.1326 AU (468.63 Gm)
Eccentricity0.13249
5.54 yr (2025.1 d)
11.164°
0° 10m 39.972s / day
Inclination2.5461°
100.52°
56.849°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
130.808±1.483 km[4]
6.66535 h (0.277723 d)
0.0615±0.004
C
8.31

    This asteroid is a member of the Themis family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements.[7] It probably has a primitive composition, similar to that of the carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.

    A 1979 study of the Algol-like light curve produced by this asteroid concluded that it was possible to model the brightness variation by assuming a binary system with a circular orbit, a period of 13.146 hours, and an inclination of 15° to the line of sight from the Earth.[8] Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Leura Observatory in Leura, Australia during 2006 gave a rotation period of 6.6666 ± 0.0002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.50 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This is in agreement with previous studies.[9]

    Ophelia is also the name of a moon of Uranus.

    References
    1. Benjamin Smith (1903) The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    2. "Ophelian". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
    3. Yeomans, Donald K., "171 Ophelia", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 6 May 2016.
    4. Small-Body Database Lookup
    5. Florczak, M.; et al. (February 1999). "A spectroscopic study of the THEMIS family". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement. 134 (3): 463–471. Bibcode:1999A&AS..134..463F. doi:10.1051/aas:1999150.
    6. Schmadel, Lutz (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 30. ISBN 9783540002383. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
    7. Moore, Patrick; Rees, Robin, eds. (2011), Patrick Moore's Data Book of Astronomy (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 165, ISBN 9781139495226.
    8. Wijesinghe, M. P.; Tedesco, E. F. (December 1979), "A test of plausibility of eclipsing binary asteroids", Icarus, 40 (3): 383–393, Bibcode:1979Icar...40..383W, doi:10.1016/0019-1035(79)90031-9.
    9. Oey, Julian (December 2006), "Lightcurves analysis of 10 asteroids from Leura Observatory", The Minor Planet Bulletin, 33 (4): 96–99, Bibcode:2006MPBu...33...96O.

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