302 Clarissa

Main-belt asteroid

Clarissa (minor planet designation: 302 Clarissa) is a typical main belt asteroid.[1] The asteroid was discovered by the French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 14 November 1890 in Nice. The origin of the name is unknown.[3] In 1991, 302 Clarissa was being considered as a possible fly-by target for the Cassini spacecraft, but was later removed from consideration.[4]

This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.73 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.11. The orbital plane is inclined by 3.4° to the plane of the ecliptic. There are no major planetary resonances near the orbit of 302 Clarissa. It has a retrograde spin with a rotation period of 14.4797 hours. Stellar occultation data provides a size estimate of 43±4 km,[2] while IRAS data gives a diameter of 38.5±3.1 km. It is classified as a F-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material.[1]

302 Clarissa provides the eponym for a small collisional asteroid family of mostly C-type asteroids. This group consists of 179 bodies with orbits clustered around 302 Clarissa. The family has a small extend of semimajor axis values, suggesting this is a young group; its estimated age is 56±5 Myr. 70–90% of the objects in this family have a retrograde spin, suggesting the parent body may have possessed a similar rotation.[2] This family is one of five that are candidate sources for the near Earth asteroids 101955 Bennu and 162173 Ryugu.[5]

Spacecraft visits

At present, Clarissa has not been visited by any spacecraft. As of 1991, mission planning for the Cassini–Huygens spacecraft included a flyby (spaceflight) of Clarissa while leaving the inner solar system in November 1998,[6] however due to delays, the launch of Cassini-Huygens was moved from November 1995 to October 1997, thus negating the option to pass near Clarissa. Cassini-Huygens passed by asteroid 2685 Masursky on 23 January 2000 instead.

References

  1. ^ a b c "302 Clarissa". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Lowry, Vanessa C.; et al. (September 2020), "Clarissa Family Age from the Yarkovsky Effect Chronology", The Astronomical Journal, 160 (3): 127, arXiv:2009.06030, Bibcode:2020AJ....160..127L, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aba4af, 127
  3. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (11 November 2013), Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Berlin Heidelberg: Springer, p. 61, ISBN 9783662066157
  4. ^ Chevreton, M.; et al. (August 1993), "Observations of the asteroid 302 Clarissa by fast multichannel photometer", Planetary and Space Science, 41 (8): 563–567, Bibcode:1993P&SS...41..563C, doi:10.1016/0032-0633(93)90076-E
  5. ^ Morate, David; et al. (February 2018), "Visible spectroscopy of the Sulamitis and Clarissa primitive families: a possible link to Erigone and Polana", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 610: 14, Bibcode:2018A&A...610A..25M, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201731407, A25
  6. ^ Outward to the Beginning: the CRAF and Cassini Missions of the Mariner Mark 2 Program; NASA Contractor Report CR-183133, 1 June 1988

External links

  • 302 Clarissa at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
    • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
  • 302 Clarissa at the JPL Small-Body Database Edit this at Wikidata
    • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
  • JPL SBDB
  • MPC