152 Atala

152 Atala is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by brothers Paul Henry and Prosper Henry on 2 November 1875, but the discovery was credited to Paul. It is a type D asteroid, meaning that it is composed of carbon, organic rich silicates and possibly water ice.

152 Atala

A three-dimensional model of 152 Atala based on its light curve.
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	P. P. Henry
Discovery date	2 November 1875
Designations
MPC designation	(152) Atala
Pronunciation	/əˈtɑːlə/ French: [atala]
Named after	Atala
Alternative designations	A875 VB
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	130.69 yr (47735 d)
Aphelion	3.3855 AU (506.46 Gm)
Perihelion	2.8984 AU (433.59 Gm)
Semi-major axis	3.1420 AU (470.04 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.077507
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.57 yr (2034.2 d)
Mean anomaly	52.593°
Mean motion	0° 10m 37.092s / day
Inclination	12.114°
Longitude of ascending node	39.945°
Argument of perihelion	59.807°
Earth MOID	1.93567 AU (289.572 Gm)
Jupiter MOID	1.85235 AU (277.108 Gm)
TJupiter	3.171
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	65 ± 8 km[4] 71–122 km[5]
Mass	(5.43 ± 1.24) × 1018 kg[6]
Synodic rotation period	6.246 h (0.2603 d)
Sidereal rotation period	5.28-6.25 hours
Geometric albedo	0.054
Spectral type	D[7]
Absolute magnitude (H)	8.33

The asteroid is named for the eponymous heroine of the 1801 novella Atala by François-René de Chateaubriand.^[8] The Henry brothers also named the last of their discoveries, 186 Celuta, after another Chateaubriand heroine.^[9] Both Atala and Céluta are American Indian fictional characters.^[10]

An occultation of a star by Atala was observed from Japan on 11 March 1994. Subsequent occultations have been observed as recently as 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Photometric of this asteroid made in 1981 gave a light curve with a period of 5.282 ± 0.004 hours with a brightness variation of 0.50 in magnitude.^[11]