324 Bamberga
 |
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Johann Palisa |
| Discovery date | 25 February 1892 |
| Designations | |
| Pronunciation | /bæmˈbɜːrɡə/ bam-BUR-gə |
|
Named after
|
Bamberg |
| none | |
| Main belt | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 124.08 yr (45321 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.59442 AU (537.718 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 1.77023 AU (264.823 Gm) |
| 2.68232 AU (401.269 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.34004 |
| 4.39 yr (1604.6 d) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
18.18 km/s |
| 225.419° | |
| 0° 13m 27.682s / day | |
| Inclination | 11.1011° |
| 327.883° | |
| 44.2409° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.786407 AU (117.6448 Gm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.96933 AU (294.608 Gm) |
| Jupiter Tisserand parameter | 3.265 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions |
229.44±7.4 km 234.67 ± 7.80 km 229.4 ± 7.4 km (IRAS) |
| Mass | 1.1×1019 kg (1.03 ± 0.10) × 1019 kg |
|
Mean density
|
1.52 ± 0.20 g/cm3 |
|
Equatorial surface gravity
|
0.055 m/s² |
|
Equatorial escape velocity
|
0.11 km/s |
| 1.226 d 29.43 h (1.226 d) |
|
|
0.0628±0.004 0.0628 |
|
| Temperature | ~172 K |
| C-type asteroid | |
| 6.82 | |
324 Bamberga is one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on February 25, 1892 in Vienna. It is the 14th-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. Apart from the near-Earth asteroid Eros, it was the last asteroid which is ever easily visible with binoculars to be discovered.
Although its very high orbital eccentricity means its opposition magnitude varies greatly, at a rare opposition near perihelion Bamberga can reach a magnitude of +8.0, which is as bright as Saturn's moon Titan. Such near-perihelion oppositions occur on a regular cycle every twenty-two years, with the last occurring in 2013 and the next in 2035, when attaining magnitude 8.1 on September 13. Its brightness at these rare near-perihelion oppositions makes Bamberga the brightest C-type asteroid, roughly one magnitude brighter than 10 Hygiea's maximum brightness of around +9.1. At such an opposition Bamberga can in fact be closer to Earth than any main-belt asteroid with magnitude above +9.5, getting as close as 0.78 AU. For comparison, 7 Iris never comes closer than 0.85 AU and 4 Vesta never closer than 1.13 AU (when it becomes visible to the naked eye in a light pollution-free sky).
Overall Bamberga is the tenth-brightest main-belt asteroid after, in order, Vesta, Pallas, Ceres, Iris, Hebe, Juno, Melpomene, Eunomia and Flora. Its high eccentricity (for comparison 36% higher than that of Pluto), though, means that at most oppositions other asteroids reach higher magnitudes.
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