255 Oppavia

255 Oppavia

Discovery
Discovered by	Johann Palisa
Discovery date	March 31, 1886
Designations
Named after	Opava
Alternative names	A904 EC, A924 TA, 1938 VC, 1938 XC, 1945 GD, 1951 SG
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 30 January 2005 (JD 2453400.5)
Aphelion	443.748 Gm (2.966 AU)
Perihelion	377.374 Gm (2.523 AU)
Semi-major axis	410.561 Gm (2.744 AU)
Eccentricity	0.081
Orbital period	1660.616 d (4.55 a)
Average orbital speed	17.98 km/s
Mean anomaly	74.62°
Inclination	9.486°
Longitude of ascending node	13.774°
Argument of perihelion	152.96°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	57.0 km
Mass	unknown
Mean density	unknown
Surface gravity	unknown
Escape velocity	unknown
Rotation period	unknown
Albedo	0.0374
Temperature	unknown
Spectral type	P
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.39

255 Oppavia is a sizeable Main belt asteroid. It classified as a dark P-type asteroid.

It was discovered by Johann Palisa on March 31, 1886 in Vienna and was named after Opava, town in the Czech Republic (then part of Austria-Hungary), where Palisa was born.

Oppavia was long thought to be a member of the now defunct Ceres asteroid family, but was found to be an unrelated interloper on the basis of its non-matching spectral type.

External links

• Orbital simulation of asteroid 255 Oppavia
• Asteroid 255 Oppavia in Planetky z našich luhů a hájů (in Czech language)

References

• The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database
• Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances
• Asteroid Lightcurve Data File