12 Victoria

12 Victoria is a large main-belt asteroid, orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.56 years and an eccentricity of 0.221. It is a stony (S-type) asteroid, about 112–124 km across with an albedo of 0.18 and a rotation period of 8.66 hours. Victoria has been observed to occult a star three times since its discovery. Radar and speckle interferometry observations show that the shape of Victoria is elongated, and it is suspected to be a binary asteroid, with a moon of irregular shape.^[6]

12 Victoria

Discovery
Discovered by	John Russell Hind
Discovery date	13 September 1850
Designations
MPC designation	(12) Victoria
Pronunciation	/vɪkˈtɔːriə/[1]
Named after	Victoria (Latin: Uictōria)
Minor planet category	Main belt
Adjectives	Victorian
Symbol	(historical)
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 17.0 October 2024 (JD 2460600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	173.98 yr
Aphelion	2.85 AU (426 million km)
Perihelion	1.82 AU (272 million km)
Semi-major axis	2.33 AU (349 million km)
Eccentricity	0.22013
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.57 yr (1302.6 d)
Average orbital speed	19.50 km/s
Mean anomaly	326.4°
Mean motion	0° 16m 34.914s / day
Inclination	8.374°
Longitude of ascending node	235.36°
Time of perihelion	15 February 2025
Argument of perihelion	69.55°
Earth MOID	0.83 AU (124 million km)
Jupiter MOID	2.42 AU (362 million km)
TJupiter	3.522
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	140 km × 116 km × 96 km (± 4 km × 3 km × 3 km)[3]
Mean diameter	116±2 km[3] 115.087 ± 1.199 km[2] 124.09 ± 8.31 km[4]
Flattening	0.31[a]
Mass	(2.7±1.3)×1018 kg[3] (2.45±0.46)×1018 kg[4]
Mean density	3.4±1.7 g/cm3[3] 2.45±0.67 g/cm3[4]
Equatorial surface gravity	0.0315 m/s²
Equatorial escape velocity	0.0596 km/s
Synodic rotation period	8.6599 h (0.36083 d)[2] 8.660345±0.000005 h[3]
Axial tilt	110°[3]
Pole ecliptic longitude	177°±2°[3]
Pole ecliptic latitude	−27°±3°[3]
Geometric albedo	0.167 (calculated)[3] 0.163 ± 0.027[2]
Temperature	~178 K
Spectral type	S (Tholen)/L (SMASS)[2] A[3] L[4]
Apparent magnitude	8.68[5] to 12.82
Absolute magnitude (H)	7.30[2] 7.24[3]
Angular diameter	0.188" to 0.04"

This minor planet was discovered by English astronomer J. R. Hind on September 13, 1850. Victoria is officially named after the Roman goddess of victory, but the name also honours Queen Victoria. The goddess Victoria (Nike for the Greeks) was the daughter of Styx by the Titan Pallas. The coincidence with the name of the then-reigning queen caused quite a controversy at the time, and B. A. Gould, editor of the prestigious Astronomical Journal, adopted the alternate name Clio (now used by 84 Klio), proposed by the discoverer. However, W. C. Bond, of the Harvard College Observatory, then the highest authority on astronomy in America, held that the mythological condition was fulfilled and the name therefore acceptable, and his opinion eventually prevailed.^[7]

The historical symbol for Victoria was a star with a branch of laurel. It is in the pipeline for Unicode 17.0 as U+1CEC5 𜻅 ().^[8][9]

12 Victoria Earth approach on 26 June 2028^[10]

Date and time of closest approach	Earth distance (AU)	Sun distance (AU)	Velocity relative to Earth (km/s)	Velocity relative to Sun (km/s)	Uncertainty region (3-sigma)	Solar elongation
26 June 2028 ≈01:57	0.877 AU (131.2 million km; 81.5 million mi; 341 LD)	1.88 AU (281 million km; 175 million mi)	6.4	23.7	± 7 km	166.9°

Model of 12 Victoria made by light-curve inversion

See also

• Former classification of planets

Notes

1. Flattening derived from the maximum aspect ratio (c/a): ${\displaystyle f=1-{\frac {c}{a}}}$, where (c/a) = 0.69±0.03.^[3]