146 Lucina is a
main-belt asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
that was discovered by
Alphonse Borrelly on June 8, 1875, and named after
Lucina, the
Roman goddess of childbirth. It is large, dark and has a
carbonaceous composition. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.
[
Photometric observations of this asteroid made during 1979 and 1981 gave a ]light curve
In astronomy, a light curve is a graph (discrete mathematics), graph of the Radiance, light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude (astronomy), magnitude of light received on the ''y''-axis ...
with a period of 18.54 hours.occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks f ...
s by Lucina have been observed so far, in 1982 and 1989. During the first event, a possible small satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
with an estimated 5.7 km diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...
was detected at a distance of 1,600 km from 146 Lucina.
References
External links
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000146
Discoveries by Alphonse Borrelly
Named minor planets
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