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Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3908 Nyx is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster on August 6, 1980, and is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, after which Pluto's moon Nix is also named. It is 1–2 km in diameter and is a V-type asteroid, meaning that it may be a fragment of the asteroid 4 Vesta.
| |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Hans-Emil Schuster |
| Discovery date | 6 August 1980 |
| Designations | |
| (3908) Nyx | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈnɪks/"Nyx". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d. |
Named after | Nyx |
| 1980 PA; 1988 XB1 | |
| Amor; Mars-crosser | |
| Adjectives | Nyctian |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 27 July 2005 (JD 2453578.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 13021 days (35.65 yr) |
| Aphelion | 2.81198 AU (420.666 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 1.04239 AU (155.939 Gm) |
| 1.92719 AU (288.304 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.45911 |
| 2.68 yr (977.20 d) | |
| 99.7699° | |
| 0° 22m 6.236s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.17667° |
| 261.688° | |
| 125.978° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0563399 AU (8.42833 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 0.5 ± 0.075 km | |
| 4.42601 h (0.184417 d) | |
| 0.23 | |
| V | |
| 17.3 | |
In 2000, radar observations conducted at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories produced a model of Nyx's shape; the asteroid can best be described as spherical but with many protruding lumps.
To avoid confusion with 3908 Nyx, Pluto's moon Nix was changed from the initial proposal of the classical spelling Nyx, to Nix.[2]
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