56 Melete
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| Orbital characteristics 1 (ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html) | |
|---|---|
| Orbit type | Main belt |
| Semimajor axis | 2.596 AU |
| Perihelion distance | 1.979 AU |
| Aphelion distance | 3.213 AU |
| Orbital period | 4.18 years |
| Inclination | 8.07° |
| Eccentricity | 0.238 |
| Physical characteristics 1 (ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html) | |
| Diameter | 113.2 km |
| Rotation period 3 (http://charlie.psi.edu/pds/) | 18.14 hours |
| Spectral class 5 (http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/parallax/phot/LCSUMPUB.TXT) | P |
| Abs. magnitude | 8.31 |
| Albedo 4 (http://dorothy.as.arizona.edu/DSN/IRAS/index_iras.html) | 0.065 |
| History 2 (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html) | |
| Discoverer | H. Goldschmidt, 1857 |
56 Melete (mel'-i-tee) is a large and dark main belt asteroid. It is a rather unusual class P asteroid, composition is probably organic rich silicates, carbon and anhydrous silicates, with possible internal water ice.
It was discovered by H. Goldschmidt on September 9, 1857 and was named after Melete, the Muse of meditation in Greek mythology.
So far two stellar occultations by Melete have been observed successfully (in 1997 and again in 2002).
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