269 Justitia
Justitia (minor planet designation: 269 Justitia) is a fairly sizeable main belt asteroid around 50 km in diameter
Orbital diagram | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Johann Palisa |
| Discovery date | 21 September 1887 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | (269) Justitia |
| Pronunciation | /dʒʌˈstɪʃiə/ |
Named after | Justitia |
Alternative designations | A887 SA, 1942 XY |
Minor planet category | Main belt |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 126.16 yr (46080 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.17477 AU (474.939 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.0555 AU (307.50 Gm) |
Semi-major axis | 2.61515 AU (391.221 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.21399 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 4.23 yr (1544.7 d) |
Mean anomaly | 219.582° |
Mean motion | 0° 13m 59.016s / day |
| Inclination | 5.4799° |
Longitude of ascending node | 156.759° |
| 119.62° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 53.62±1.3 km |
Synodic rotation period | 33.128 h (1.3803 d) |
| 0.0974±0.005 | |
| 9.7 | |
It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 21 September 1887 in Vienna.
The asteroid was named after Justitia, the Roman equivalent of Themis, the Greek goddess of justice (she also has an asteroid named after her, 24 Themis).
As discovered in 2021, the asteroid has a very red color due to tholins on its surface, similar to trans-Neptunian objects. It is therefore thought to have formed in the outer Solar System despite its current orbit within the asteroid belt.
The asteroid will be visited by the United Arab Emirates' MBR Explorer mission, which will attempt to land on its surface in 2034.
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