3908 Nyx
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Discovery
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| Discovered by | Hans-Emil Schuster |
| Discovery date | August 6, 1980 |
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Designations
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| Alternative names | 1980 PA; 1988 XB1 |
| Minor planet category |
Amor; Mars-crosser |
| Epoch June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5) | |
| Aphelion | 420.707 Gm (2.812 AU) |
| Perihelion | 156.151 Gm (1.044 AU) |
| Semi-major axis | 288.429 Gm (1.928 AU) |
| Eccentricity | 0.459 |
| Orbital period | 977.843 d (2.68 a) |
| Average orbital speed | 20.27 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 218.206° |
| Inclination | 2.180° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 261.560° |
| Argument of perihelion | 126.177° |
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Physical characteristics
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| Dimensions | 1.04 ± 0.16 km |
| Mass | 1.0–8.4×1012 kg |
| Mean density | 2.0? g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity | 0.0003–0.0006 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 0.0005–0.0011 km/s |
| Rotation period | 4.42601 h |
| Albedo | 0.10? |
| Temperature | ~200? K |
| Spectral type | V |
| Absolute magnitude | 17.4 |
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.
In 2000, radar observations conducted at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories produced a model of Nyx' shape; the asteroid can best be described as spherical but with many protruding lumps.
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