(29) Amphitrite

(29) Amphitrite is an asteroid discovered from London in 1854 by Albert Marth. It is one of the largest S-type asteroids, probably over 200 kilometers, the third in diameter after Eunomia and Juno, with a surface similar to Iris and Herculina.

Discovery

Amphitrite was discovered on March 1, 1854 by Albert Marth from the George Bishop Observatory in London. It is the only asteroid discovered by its discoverer. Regardless it was discovered later the same night by Jean Chacornac and on March 2, 1854 by Norman Pogson. It gets its name from Amphitrite, a character from Greek mythology. The name was chosen by George Bishop, owner of the observatory where it was discovered.

Orbital characteristics

Amphitrite orbits at an average distance of 2,555 AU from the Sun, being able to move as far as 2,739 AU and as close as 2,371 AU. The orbital inclination of it is 6.089° and the eccentricity 0.07211. It takes 1,492 days to complete one orbit around the Sun. Amphitrite's orbit is less eccentric and inclined than its larger cousins; in fact, it is the most circular of any asteroid discovered up to that time. As a consequence, it never gets as bright as Iris or Hebe, especially since it is so much further from the Sun than those asteroids. It can reach magnitudes of the order of 8.6 in favorable opposition.

Physical characteristics

In 2007, James Baer and Steven R. Chesley estimated that Amphitrite had a mass of 1.9×10¹⁹ kg. A more recent study suggests its mass is 1.18× 10¹⁹ kg.

Amphitrite is suspected to have a satellite, due to light curve data collected by Edward F. Tedesco.

Symbol

Amphitrite is one of the 22 asteroids that were represented with symbols until this system ceased to be effective due both to the difficulty of representation of it and to the difficulty of remembering all symbols as the number of asteroids increased. His symbol was and represented a star on a shell.