255 Oppavia is a sizeable Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 31 March 1886 in Vienna and was named after Opava, a town in the Czech Republic, then part of Austria-Hungary, where Palisa was born.[3] It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.75 AU with an orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.077 and a period of 4.55 yr. The orbital plane is inclined by an angle of 9.47° to the plane of the ecliptic.[1]

255 Oppavia
Discovery
Discovered byJohann Palisa
Discovery date31 March 1886
Designations
(255) Oppavia
Pronunciation/ɒˈpviə/
Named after
Opava
A886 FB, 1904 EC
1924 TA, 1938 VC
1938 XC, 1945 GD
1951 SG
Main belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc129.86 yr (47,431 d)
Aphelion2.959 AU (442.6 Gm)
Perihelion2.533 AU (379.0 Gm)
2.746 AU (410.8 Gm)
Eccentricity0.077427
4.551 yr (1,662.1 d)
17.98 km/s
261.139°
0° 12m 59.735s / day
Inclination9.47209°
13.6708°
156.011°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions57.40±1.5 km
19.499 h (0.8125 d)
0.0374±0.002
X[2]
10.39

Photometric observations made during 2013 indicate a synodic rotation period of 19.499±0.001 h with an amplitude of 0.16±0.02 in magnitude. The unusual light curve shows three uneven minima and maxima per cycle.[4] In 1995, 255 Oppavia was suggested as a peripheral member of the now defunct Ceres asteroid family,[5] but was found to be an unrelated interloper on the basis of its non-matching spectral type. It classified as a dark X-type asteroid in the Tholen taxonomy.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "255 Oppavia". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b Lazzaro, D.; Angeli, C. A.; Carvano, J. M.; Mothé-Diniz, T.; Duffard, R.; Florczak, M. (November 2004). "S3OS2: the visible spectroscopic survey of 820 asteroids" (PDF). Icarus. 172 (1): 179–220. Bibcode:2004Icar..172..179L. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.06.006. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  3. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2013). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 56. ISBN 9783662066157.
  4. ^ Pilcher, Frederick (July 2013). "Rotation Period Determinations for 102 Miriam, 108 Hecuba, 221 Eos 225 Oppavia, and 745 Mauritia, and a Note on 871 Amneris". Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. 40 (3): 158–160. Bibcode:2013MPBu...40..158P.
  5. ^ Morbidelli, A.; et al. (November 1995). "Asteroid Families Close to Mean Motion Resonances: Dynamical Effects and Physical Implications" (PDF). Icarus. 118 (1): 132–154. Bibcode:1995Icar..118..132M. doi:10.1006/icar.1995.1181. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
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