74 Galatea

For the moon of Neptune, see Galatea (moon).

74 Galatea is a large C-type main-belt asteroid. Its carbonaceous surface is very dark in color with an albedo of just 0.034.^[7] Galatea was found by the prolific comet discoverer Ernst Tempel on August 29, 1862, in Marseille, France. It was his third asteroid discovery. It is named after one of the two Galateas in Greek mythology. A stellar occultation by Galatea was observed on September 8, 1987. The name Galatea has also been given to one of Neptune's satellites.

74 Galatea

Orbital diagram
Discovery
Discovered by	Ernst Wilhelm Tempel
Discovery date	August 29, 1862
Designations
MPC designation	(74) Galatea
Pronunciation	/ɡæləˈtiːə/[1]
Named after	Galatea
Minor planet category	Main belt
Adjectives	Galatean
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion	515.376 Gm (3.445 AU)
Perihelion	315.937 Gm (2.112 AU)
Semi-major axis	415.657 Gm (2.778 AU)
Eccentricity	0.240
Orbital period (sidereal)	1691.658 d (4.63 a)
Mean anomaly	36.838°
Inclination	4.075°
Longitude of ascending node	197.313°
Argument of perihelion	174.519°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	120.67 ± 7.15 km[3]
Mass	(6.13 ± 5.36) × 1018 kg[3]
Mean density	6.66 ± 5.94[3] g/cm3
Synodic rotation period	17.270[4] h
Geometric albedo	0.043[5]
Spectral type	C[6]
Absolute magnitude (H)	8.66

Photometric observations of this asteroid made during 2008 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave a light curve with a period of 17.270 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 ± 0.01 in magnitude. The curve displays four minima and four maxima.^[4] The spectra of the asteroid does not display evidence of aqueous alteration.^[7]