43 Ariadne

43 Ariadne is a fairly big and bright main belt asteroid. It is the second-biggest member of the Flora asteroid family. It was found by N. R. Pogson on April 15, 1857 and named after the Greek heroine Ariadne.

43 Ariadne

Discovery
Discovered by	N. R. Pogson
Discovery date	April 15, 1857
Designations
Alternative names	none
Minor planet category	Main belt (Flora family)
Orbital characteristics
Epoch November 26, 2005 (JD 2453700.5)
Aphelion	384.954 Gm (2.573 AU)
Perihelion	274.339 Gm (1.834 AU)
Semi-major axis	329.646 Gm (2.204 AU)
Eccentricity	0.168
Orbital period	1194.766 d (3.27 a)
Average orbital speed	19.92 km/s
Mean anomaly	101.582°
Inclination	3.464°
Longitude of ascending node	264.937°
Argument of perihelion	15.948°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	95×60×50 km[1]
Mass	~4.0×1017 kg (estimate)
Mean density	~2.7 g/cm³ (estimate)
Surface gravity	~0.012 m/s² (estimate)
Escape velocity	~0.034 km/s (estimate)
Rotation period	0.2401 d
Albedo	0.274 (geometric)
Temperature	~178 K max: 275K (+2° C)
Spectral type	S-type asteroid
Apparent magnitude	8.78 to 13.29
Absolute magnitude (H)	7.93
Angular diameter	0.11" to 0.025"

Characteristics

Ariadne is very stretched out (almost twice as long as its smallest shape). It is a retrograde rotator, although its pole points almost parallel to the ecliptic towards ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (-15°, 235°) with a 10° uncertainty^[2]. This gives an axial tilt of about 105°.

Trivia

• For reasons unknown, "Asteroid 43 Ariadne" was included in a list of names of supporters of the NASA spacecraft Stardust that was stored on a microchip within the spacecraft.
• The maximum apparent size of Ariadne is equal to the maximum apparent size of Pluto.