109 Felicitas is a dark and fairly large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by German-American astronomer C. H. F. Peters on October 9, 1869, and named after Felicitas, the Roman goddess of success.[5] The only observed stellar occultation by Felicitas is one from Japan (March 29, 2003).[6]

109 Felicitas
3D convex shape model of 109 Felicitas
Discovery
Discovered byChristian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
Discovery date9 October 1869
Designations
(109) Felicitas
Pronunciation/fɪˈlɪsɪtæs/[1]
Named after
Felicitas
A869 TA; 1911 HA
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc146.39 yr (53470 d)
Aphelion3.4971 AU (523.16 Gm)
Perihelion1.89658 AU (283.724 Gm)
2.6968 AU (403.44 Gm)
Eccentricity0.29674
4.43 yr (1617.6 d)
17.73 km/s
30.6904°
0° 13m 21.18s / day
Inclination7.8813°
3.1617°
56.392°
Earth MOID0.920053 AU (137.6380 Gm)
Jupiter MOID1.95452 AU (292.392 Gm)
TJupiter3.291
Physical characteristics
Dimensions89.44±2.5 km[2]
88.971 km[3]
Mass7.5×1017 kg
Equatorial surface gravity
0.0250 m/s2
Equatorial escape velocity
0.0473 km/s
13.191 h (0.5496 d)[2][4]
0.0699±0.004[2]
0.07 ± 0.02[3]
Temperature~170 K
GC (Tholen)[3]
8.75,[2] 8.759[3]

This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.43 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.3. Its orbital plane is inclined by 7.9° from the plane of the ecliptic. 109 Felicitas is classified as a carbonaceous GC-type asteroid. It is spinning with a rotation period of 13.2 hours. During 2002, 109 Felicitas was observed by radar from the Arecibo Observatory. The return signal matched an effective diameter of 89 ± 9 km. This is consistent with the asteroid dimensions computed through other means.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ a b c d e Yeomans, Donald K., "109 Felicitas", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 12 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Pravec, P.; et al. (May 2012), "Absolute Magnitudes of Asteroids and a Revision of Asteroid Albedo Estimates from WISE Thermal Observations", Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2012, Proceedings of the conference held May 16–20, 2012 in Niigata, Japan, vol. 1667, no. 1667, p. 6089, Bibcode:2012LPICo1667.6089P.
  4. ^ a b Magri, Christopher; et al. (January 2007), "A radar survey of main-belt asteroids: Arecibo observations of 55 objects during 1999–2003", Icarus, 186 (1): 126–151, Bibcode:2007Icar..186..126M, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.08.018
  5. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2012), Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (6th ed.), Springer, p. 23, ISBN 978-3642297182.
  6. ^ Observed minor planet occultation events, version of 2005 July 26
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