83 Beatrix

83 Beatrix is a fairly large asteroid orbiting in the inner part of the main asteroid belt. It was discovered by Annibale de Gasparis on April 26, 1865. It was his last asteroid discovery. A diameter of at least 68 kilometres (42 mi) was determined from the Beatrician stellar occultation observed on June 15, 1983. It is named for Beatrice Portinari,^[4] beloved of Dante Alighieri and immortalized by him in La Vita Nuova and The Divine Comedy.

83 Beatrix

Discovery
Discovered by	Annibale de Gasparis
Discovery date	April 26, 1865
Designations
MPC designation	(83) Beatrix
Pronunciation	/ˈbiːətrɪks/ BEE-ə-triks[1]
Named after	Beatrice Portinari
Minor planet category	Main belt
Adjectives	Beatrician (/ˌbiːəˈtrɪʃən/ BEE-ə-TRISH-ən)[2]
Orbital characteristics
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion	393.528 Gm (2.631 AU)
Perihelion	334.023 Gm (2.233 AU)
Semi-major axis	363.776 Gm (2.432 AU)
Eccentricity	0.082
Orbital period (sidereal)	1385.035 d (3.79 a)
Average orbital speed	19.07 km/s
Mean anomaly	141.862°
Inclination	4.966°
Longitude of ascending node	27.800°
Argument of perihelion	167.170°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	81.4 km
Mass	5.6×1017 kg
Synodic rotation period	10.11 hours
Geometric albedo	0.092 [3]
Spectral type	X
Absolute magnitude (H)	8.66

On February 16, 2001, an occultation of a magnitude +9.09 star by this asteroid was observed from three locations. The resulting chords matched an elliptical profile with a mean radius of 35.9 km. The observers noted some dimming and flickering at the beginning of the event, which may indicate the star was binary or the asteroid has an irregular shape. Previous occultations had been observed in 1983 and 1990, which produced a much larger size estimate of 81.4 km.^[5]

Beatrician orbit