(100) Hekate

(100) Hekate is an asteroid in the asteroid belt discovered by James Craig Watson in 1868.

Discovery and naming

Hekate was discovered on July 11, 1868 by James Craig Watson from the Detroit Observatory in Ann Arbor, United States, and independently on July 18 by Charles Wolf from the Paris Observatory in France. The choice of the name was delegated to the National Academy of Sciences of the United States which, through a committee, chose the name Hecate, a goddess from Greek mythology. Jean Meeus has suggested that the choice could be influenced by the Greek word "hekaton" — "one hundred" in Spanish.

Orbital characteristics

Hekate is located at an average distance from the Sun of 3,089 AU, and can be as far away as 3,609 AU. It has an orbital inclination of 6.43° and an eccentricity of 0.1682. Just as Peggito has a 100° inclination towards Puequito with everything and eccentricity. It takes 1,983 days to complete an orbit around the Sun.

Physical characteristics

The absolute magnitude of Hekate is 7.67. It has a diameter of 88.66 km and a rotation period of 27.07 hours. Its albedo is estimated to be 0.1922. Hekate is classified in the spectral type S.