437 Rhodia

437 Rhodia
Discovery
Discovered byAuguste Charlois
Discovery date16 July 1898
Designations
(437) Rhodia
Pronunciation/rˈdə/
Named after
Ῥόδεια Rhodeia
1898 DP
Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc117.73 yr (43,001 d)
Aphelion2.9793 AU (445.70 Gm)
Perihelion1.79242 AU (268.142 Gm)
2.38586 AU (356.920 Gm)
Eccentricity0.24873
3.69 yr (1,346.1 d)
355.267°
0° 16m 2.82s / day
Inclination7.3442°
263.22°
62.058°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions13.12±0.7 km
56 h (2.3 d)
0.7035±0.084
10.41

    437 Rhodia is a Main belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 16 July 1898 in Nice. It was named after one of the Oceanid nymphs of Greek mythology. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.39 AU with a period of 3.69 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.25. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 7.3° to the plane of the ecliptic. 437 Rhodia was originally a proposed fly-by target of interest for the Rosetta mission.

    Analysis of the bimodal light curve generated using photometric data show a lengthy rotation period of 433.2 ± 0.5 hours (18.05 ± 0.02 days) with a brightness variation of 0.35±0.05 in magnitude. It also appears to be tumbling. 437 Rhodia is classified as an E-type asteroid with a diameter of approximately 13 km. This object has the highest albedo in the IRAS dataset, with a value of 0.70±0.08.