277 Elvira

277 Elvira
	A three-dimensional model of 277 Elvira based on its light curve
Discovery
Discovered by	Auguste Charlois
Discovery date	3 May 1888
Designations
MPC designation	(277) Elvira
Alternative designations	A888 JA
Minor planet category	Main belt (Koronis)
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	116.65 yr (42607 d)
Aphelion	3.14812 AU (470.952 Gm)
Perihelion	2.62032 AU (391.994 Gm)
Semi-major axis	2.88422 AU (431.473 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.091498
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.90 yr (1789.1 d)
Mean anomaly	266.399°
Mean motion	0° 12m 4.378s / day
Inclination	1.16250°
Longitude of ascending node	231.271°
Argument of perihelion	137.520°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	27.19±0.9 km; 27.19 km
Synodic rotation period	29.69 h (1.237 d)
Geometric albedo	0.2770±0.020; 0.277
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.84

277 Elvira is a typical main belt asteroid and is a member of the Koronis asteroid family. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 3 May 1888 in Nice. 277 Elvira is possibly named for a character in Alphonse de Lamartine's Méditations poétiques (1820) and Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (1830).^[3]

Quick Facts Discovery, Discovered by ...

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A group of astronomers, including Lucy D’Escoffier Crespo da Silva and Richard P. Binzel, used observations made between 1998 through 2000 to determine the spin-vector alignment of the Koronis family of asteroids, including 277 Elvira. The collaborative work resulted in the creation of 61 new individual rotation lightcurves to augment previous published observations.^[4]

Measurements of the thermal inertia of 277 Elvira give a value of around 190 J m⁻² K⁻¹ s^−1/2, compared to 50 for lunar regolith and 400 for coarse sand in an atmosphere.^[2]

[1]
"277 Elvira". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
[2]
Delbo', Marco; Tanga, Paolo (February 2009), "Thermal inertia of main belt asteroids smaller than 100 km from IRAS data", Planetary and Space Science, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 259–265, arXiv:0808.0869, Bibcode:2009P&SS...57..259D, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2008.06.015.
[3]
Schmadel Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (fifth edition), Springer, 2003. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
[4]
Slivan, S. M., Binzel, R. P., Crespo da Silva, L. D., Kaasalainen, M., Lyndaker, M. M., Krco, M.: "Spin vectors in the Koronis family: comprehensive results from two independent analyses of 213 rotation lightcurves",Icarus, 162, 2003, pp. 285–307.