(1009) Sirene
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 31 October 1923 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | (1009) Sirene |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsaɪrən/ · SY-rən |
|
Named after
|
Siren (Greek mythology) |
| 1923 PE | |
| Mars-crosser | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 92.69 yr (33,854 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.8207 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.4259 AU |
| 2.6233 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4564 |
| 4.25 yr (1,552 days) | |
| 11.512° | |
| 0° 13m 55.2s / day | |
| Inclination | 15.775° |
| 229.46° | |
| 186.35° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.4384 AU · 170.8 LD |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5 km (est. at 0.20 |
| 13.9 | |
1009 Sirene (/ˈsaɪrən/ SY-rən), provisional designation 1923 PE, is an eccentric asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 31 October 1923. The asteroid was named after the Siren from Greek mythology.
Sirene is a Mars-crossing asteroid with a notably large semi-major axis is 2.62 AU, due to its high eccentricity of 0.46. It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 1.4–3.8 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,552 days). Its orbit has an inclination of 16° with respect to the ecliptic.
The body's observation arc begins 9 days after its official discovery observation at Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg. On 8 June 1949, Sirene passed 0.049 AU (7,300,000 km; 4,600,000 mi) from Mars.
Sirene had been of great interest in 1930s. After its discovery, it was observed at Algiers, Bergedorf, Heidelberg, Milan, Vienna and Wiliams Bay in the United States, where it became too faint to be accurately observed. It was regarded as an excellent example of a member of the then called "Aethra group" – 132 Aethra was the first discovered Mars-crossing asteroid – highly appropriate to measure the exact mass of Mars on its next opposition near perihelion in 1937. However after its last observation at Wiliams Bay in 1924, Sirene had only been observed once at Turku Observatory in 1940, and remained unobserved until the 1980s.
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