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21 Lutetia
21 Lutetia is a large M-type asteroid in the main asteroid belt. It measures about 100 kilometers in diameter (120 km along its major axis). It was discovered in 1852 by Hermann Goldschmidt, and is named after Lutetia, the Latin name of the city of Paris.
Lutetia has an irregular shape and is heavily cratered, with the largest impact crater reaching 45 km in diameter. The surface is geologically heterogeneous and is intersected by a system of grooves and scarps, which are thought to be fractures. It has a high overall bulk density, suggesting that it is made of metal-rich rock.
The Rosetta probe passed within 3,162 km (1,965 mi) of Lutetia in July 2010. It was the largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft until Dawn arrived at Vesta in July 2011, and it is currently the 3rd largest asteroid to have ever been imaged in high quality by a spacecraft (after Vesta and Ceres).
Lutetia was discovered on 15 November 1852, by Hermann Goldschmidt from the balcony of his apartment in Paris. A preliminary orbit for the asteroid was computed in November–December 1852 by German astronomer Georg Rümker and others. In 1903, it was photographed at opposition by Edward Pickering at Harvard College Observatory. He computed an opposition magnitude of 10.8.
There have been two reported stellar occultations by Lutetia, observed from Malta in 1997 and Australia in 2003, with only one chord each, roughly agreeing with IRAS measurements.[citation needed]
On 10 July 2010, the European Rosetta space probe flew by Lutetia at a minimum distance of 3168 ± 7.5 km at a velocity of 15 kilometres per second on its way to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The flyby provided images of up to 60 meters per pixel resolution and covered about 50% of the surface, mostly in the northern hemisphere. The 462 images were obtained in 21 narrow- and broad-band filters extending from 0.24 to 1 μm. Lutetia was also observed by the visible–near-infrared imaging spectrometer VIRTIS, and measurements of the magnetic field and plasma environment were taken as well.
Based on the rare high-resolution images captured during the flyby, a photogrammetric model was reconstructed to simulate a complete trajectory around Lutetia. This animation is available in two versions: a standard 2D version and a stereoscopic version, allowing for a detailed appreciation of the asteroid's relief .
Lutetia orbits the Sun at the distance of approximately 2.4 AU in the inner asteroid belt. Its orbit lies almost in the plane of ecliptic and is moderately eccentric. The orbital period of Lutetia is 3.8 years.
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21 Lutetia
21 Lutetia is a large M-type asteroid in the main asteroid belt. It measures about 100 kilometers in diameter (120 km along its major axis). It was discovered in 1852 by Hermann Goldschmidt, and is named after Lutetia, the Latin name of the city of Paris.
Lutetia has an irregular shape and is heavily cratered, with the largest impact crater reaching 45 km in diameter. The surface is geologically heterogeneous and is intersected by a system of grooves and scarps, which are thought to be fractures. It has a high overall bulk density, suggesting that it is made of metal-rich rock.
The Rosetta probe passed within 3,162 km (1,965 mi) of Lutetia in July 2010. It was the largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft until Dawn arrived at Vesta in July 2011, and it is currently the 3rd largest asteroid to have ever been imaged in high quality by a spacecraft (after Vesta and Ceres).
Lutetia was discovered on 15 November 1852, by Hermann Goldschmidt from the balcony of his apartment in Paris. A preliminary orbit for the asteroid was computed in November–December 1852 by German astronomer Georg Rümker and others. In 1903, it was photographed at opposition by Edward Pickering at Harvard College Observatory. He computed an opposition magnitude of 10.8.
There have been two reported stellar occultations by Lutetia, observed from Malta in 1997 and Australia in 2003, with only one chord each, roughly agreeing with IRAS measurements.[citation needed]
On 10 July 2010, the European Rosetta space probe flew by Lutetia at a minimum distance of 3168 ± 7.5 km at a velocity of 15 kilometres per second on its way to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The flyby provided images of up to 60 meters per pixel resolution and covered about 50% of the surface, mostly in the northern hemisphere. The 462 images were obtained in 21 narrow- and broad-band filters extending from 0.24 to 1 μm. Lutetia was also observed by the visible–near-infrared imaging spectrometer VIRTIS, and measurements of the magnetic field and plasma environment were taken as well.
Based on the rare high-resolution images captured during the flyby, a photogrammetric model was reconstructed to simulate a complete trajectory around Lutetia. This animation is available in two versions: a standard 2D version and a stereoscopic version, allowing for a detailed appreciation of the asteroid's relief .
Lutetia orbits the Sun at the distance of approximately 2.4 AU in the inner asteroid belt. Its orbit lies almost in the plane of ecliptic and is moderately eccentric. The orbital period of Lutetia is 3.8 years.