| Background |
|
|---|---|
| Discoverer | J. Chacornac |
| Discovered | 6 April 1855 |
| Mpc name | (34) Circe |
| Pronounced | /ˈsɜrsiː/[1] |
| Adjective | Circean /sərˈsiːən/[2] |
| Alt names | 1965 JL |
| Named after | Circe |
| Mp category | Main belt |
| Epoch | 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) |
| Semimajor | 2.688 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.401 AU |
| Aphelion | 2.975 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.107 |
| Period | 4.407 yr (1609.636 d) |
| Inclination | 5.496° |
| Asc node | 184.294° |
| Arg peri | 329.414° |
| Mean anomaly | 305.209° |
| Jupiter moid | 2.023 AU |
| Tisserand | 3.358 |
| Avg speed | 18.12 km/s |
| Dimensions | 132.992 ± 1.033 km[3] |
| Surface grav | ~0.0317 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | ~0.0600 km/s |
| Rotation | 0.5063 d (12.15 h) [4] |
| Abs magnitude | 8.51 |
| Albedo | 0.0541 [4] |
| Single temperature | ~172 K |
34 Circe is a large, very dark main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer J. Chacornac on 6 April 1855, and named after Circe, the bewitching queen of Aeaea island in Greek mythology.
The spectrum of this object matches a C-type asteroid, suggesting a carbonaceous composition. It has a cross-section size of 113 km and is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.40 years. Photometric observations of this asteroid made during 2007 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave an asymmetrical bimodal light curve with a period of 12.176 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.17 ± 0.02 in magnitude.[5] The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.[6]
References
- ^ "Circe". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
- ^
- ^ "34 Circe (A855 GA)". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved 2026-05-18.
- ^ Yeomans, Donald K., "34 Circe", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 2013-12-21
- ^ Pilcher, Frederick (September 2008), "Period Determinations for 26 Proserpina, 34 Circe 74 Galatea, 143 Adria, 272 Antonia, 419 Aurelia, and 557 Violetta", The Minor Planet Bulletin. 35 (3): 135–138, Bibcode:2008MPBu...35..135P
- ^ Fornasier, S. et al. (February 1999), "Spectroscopic comparison of aqueous altered asteroids with CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement. 135: 65−73, Bibcode:1999A&AS..135...65F. doi:10.1051/aas:1999161