639 Latona is a minor planet, specifically an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Lohnert on July 19, 1907, at Heidelberg.

639 Latona
Discovery
Discovered byK. Lohnert
Discovery siteHeidelberg
Discovery date19 July 1907
Designations
(639) Latona
Pronunciation/lˈtnə/[1]
1907 ZT
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc108.74 yr (39718 d)
Aphelion3.3364 AU (499.12 Gm)
Perihelion2.6969 AU (403.45 Gm)
3.0167 AU (451.29 Gm)
Eccentricity0.10600
5.24 yr (1913.8 d)
253.886°
0° 11m 17.196s / day
Inclination8.5546°
279.853°
70.682°
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
35.625±0.85 km
6.193 h (0.2580 d)
0.1826±0.009
8.20

Photometric observations of this asteroid at Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado Springs, Colorado, during 2007 gave a light curve with a period of 6.139 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 ± 0.01 in magnitude. This confirms period measurements of about 6.2 hours reported in 1987 and 2001.[3]

This is a member of the dynamic Eos family of asteroids that most likely formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ Yeomans, Donald K., "639 Latona", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, archived from the original on 17 August 2014, retrieved 5 May 2016.
  3. ^ Warner, Brian D. (June 2008), "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory - June - October 2007", The Minor Planet Bulletin, 35 (2): 56–60, Bibcode:2008MPBu...35...56W.
  4. ^ Veeder, G. J.; et al. (March 1995), "Eos, Koronis, and Maria family asteroids: Infrared (JHK) photometry" (PDF), Icarus, 114 (1): 186–196, Bibcode:1995Icar..114..186V, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.31.2739, doi:10.1006/icar.1995.1053.

External links edit