137 Meliboea

137 Meliboea is a large, dark main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer J. Palisa at the Austrian Naval Observatory on 21 April 1874, the second of his many asteroid discoveries. It was later named after Meliboea, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys in Greek mythology.^[9] The largest body in the Meliboea family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements, only 791 Ani approaches its size. It is classified as a C-type asteroid and may be composed of carbonaceous materials. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.^[10]

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137 Meliboea

Orbital diagram
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	J. Palisa
Discovery site	Austrian Naval Obs.
Discovery date	21 April 1874
Designations
MPC designation	(137) Meliboea
Pronunciation	/mɛlɪˈbiːə/[2]
Named after	Meliboea, daughter of Oceanus
Alternative designations	A874 HA; 1923 FA; 1958 UE; 1962 GB
Minor planet category	main-belt · (outer) Meliboea[3]
Adjectives	Meliboean /mɛlɪˈbiːən/[4]
Orbital characteristics[5]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	133.02 yr (48,587 d)
Aphelion	3.7859 AU
Perihelion	2.4619 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1239 AU
Eccentricity	0.2119
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.52 yr (2,017 d)
Mean anomaly	327.88°
Mean motion	0° 10m 42.6s / day
Inclination	13.432°
Longitude of ascending node	202.22°
Argument of perihelion	107.17°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	145.42±3.3 km[5] 145.92±3.58 km[6]
Mass	(7.27±3.07)×1018 kg[6]
Mean density	4.46 ± 1.91 g/cm3[6]
Synodic rotation period	25.676 h[7]
Geometric albedo	0.0503±0.002[5] 0.0492 ± 0.0128[8]
Spectral type	C (Tholen)[8]
Absolute magnitude (H)	8.05[5] 8.10[8]

Close

Photometric observations of this asteroid made at the Torino Observatory in Italy during 1990–1991 were used to determine a synodic rotation period of 15.28 ± 0.02 hours.^[11] A 2009 study at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico found a period of 25.676 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.16 ± 0.02 in magnitude. They ruled out a period of 15 hours determined in previous studies.^[7]

During 2002, 137 Meliboea was observed by radar from the Arecibo Observatory. The return signal matched an effective diameter of 144 ± 16 km. This is consistent with the asteroid dimensions computed through other means.^[12]