136 Austria

136 Austria is a main-belt asteroid that was found by the prolific asteroid discoverer Johann Palisa on 18 March 1874, from the Austrian Naval Observatory in Pola, Istria.^[5] It was his first asteroid discovery and was given the Latin name of his homeland.

136 Austria

3D convex shape model of 136 Austria
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Johann Palisa
Discovery site	Austrian Naval Obs.
Discovery date	18 March 1874
Designations
MPC designation	(136) Austria
Named after	Austria
Alternative designations	A874 FA; 1950 HT
Minor planet category	main-belt[1][2] · (inner) background[3]
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	141.11 yr (51,539 d)
Aphelion	2.4812 AU
Perihelion	2.0927 AU
Semi-major axis	2.2869 AU
Eccentricity	0.0849
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.46 yr (1,263 d)
Mean anomaly	102.82°
Mean motion	0° 17m 6s / day
Inclination	9.5788°
Longitude of ascending node	186.46°
Time of perihelion	2024-Feb-24
Argument of perihelion	132.95°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	40.14±1.0 km[2] 40.14 km[4]
Mass	6.8×1016 kg
Synodic rotation period	11.4969 h (0.47904 d)[2]
Geometric albedo	0.1459±0.007[2] 0.1459[4]
Spectral type	M[4]
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.69

Based upon its spectrum, it is classified as an M-type spectrum, although Clark et al. (1994) suggest it may be more like an S-type asteroid.^[6] It shows almost no absorption features in the near infrared, which may indicate an iron or enstatite chondrite surface composition. A weak hydration feature was detected in 2006.^[7]

Photometric observations of this asteroid at the European Southern Observatory in 1981 gave a light curve with a period of 11.5 ± 0.1 hours and a brightness variation of 0.40 in magnitude.^[4] As of 2013, the estimated rotation period is 11.4969^[8] hours.