302 Clarissa
Clarissa (minor planet designation: 302 Clarissa) is a typical main belt asteroid. The asteroid was discovered by the French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 14 November 1890 in Nice. The origin of the name is unknown. In 1991, 302 Clarissa was being considered as a possible fly-by target for the Cassini spacecraft, but was later removed from consideration.
A three-dimensional model of 302 Clarissa based on its light curve | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Auguste Charlois |
| Discovery date | 14 November 1890 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | (302) Clarissa |
Alternative designations | A890 VA; 1909 YA 1929 CK1; 1946 UN 1948 ED; 1953 NN |
Minor planet category | Main belt |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 124.04 yr (45,305 d) 124.04 yr (45305 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.67 AU (400.04 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.14 AU (319.61 Gm) |
Semi-major axis | 2.41 AU (359.82 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.11175 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 3.73 yr (1,362.5 d) |
Mean anomaly | 213.798° |
Mean motion | 0° 15m 51.174s / day |
| Inclination | 3.41369° |
Longitude of ascending node | 7.85637° |
| 54.5926° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 38.53±3.1 km |
Mean density | 1.5 g cm−3 |
Synodic rotation period | 14.381 h (0.5992 d) |
| 0.0524±0.010 | |
| F | |
| 10.89 | |
This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.73 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.11. The orbital plane is inclined by 3.4° to the plane of the ecliptic. There are no major planetary resonances near the orbit of 302 Clarissa. It has a retrograde spin with a rotation period of 14.4797 hours. Stellar occultation data provides a size estimate of 43±4 km, while IRAS data gives a diameter of 38.5±3.1 km. It is classified as a F-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material.
302 Clarissa provides the eponym for a small collisional asteroid family of mostly C-type asteroids. This group consists of 179 bodies with orbits clustered around 302 Clarissa. The family has a small extend of semimajor axis values, suggesting this is a young group; its estimated age is 56±5 Myr. 70–90% of the objects in this family have a retrograde spin, suggesting the parent body may have possessed a similar rotation. This family is one of five that are candidate sources for the near Earth asteroids 101955 Bennu and 162173 Ryugu.