214 Aschera

214 Aschera is a Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on February 29, 1880, in Pola and was named after the Sidonian goddess Asherah. This minor planet is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.61 AU with a low eccentricity of 0.032 and an orbital period of 4.22 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 3.44° to the plane of the ecliptic.^[2]

214 Aschera

3D convex shape model of 214 Aschera
Discovery
Discovered by	Johann Palisa
Discovery date	29 February 1880
Designations
MPC designation	(214) Aschera
Pronunciation	/əˈʃɪərə/[1]
Alternative designations	A880 DB, 1903 SE 1947 BP, 1948 JE 1949 QG2, 1949 SX1 1950 XH, 1953 OO
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	136.09 yr (49707 d)
Aphelion	2.6938 AU (402.99 Gm)
Perihelion	2.5279 AU (378.17 Gm)
Semi-major axis	2.6108 AU (390.57 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.031762
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.22 yr (1,540.9 d)
Average orbital speed	18.43 km/s
Mean anomaly	167.065°
Mean motion	0° 14m 1.068s / day
Inclination	3.4364°
Longitude of ascending node	341.997°
Argument of perihelion	131.579°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	23.16±1.0 km
Synodic rotation period	6.835 h (0.2848 d)
Geometric albedo	0.5220±0.048
Spectral type	E
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.2

It is classified as a rare E-type asteroid and is fairly faint for an object of its type. The overall diameter is estimated to be 23 km and it has a geometric albedo of 0.52.^[3] Photometric data collected during September 2021 was used the generate a lightcurve for 214 Aschera. This showed a rotation period of 6.833±0.004 h with a brightness variation of 0.20 magnitude.^[4] Using a tri-axial ellipsoidal model derived from light curve data, the overall shape of the asteroid is estimated to be a/b = 1.24 ± 0.12 and b/c = 1.83 ± 0.10, where a, b, c are the three axes of an ellipsoid.^[5]