NationMaster - Encyclopedia: 62 Erato

**62 Erato**
Orbital characteristics ^{1 (ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html)}
Orbit type	Main belt (Themis)
Semimajor axis	3.121 AU
Perihelion distance	2.562 AU
Aphelion distance	3.681 AU
Orbital period	5.51 years
Inclination	2.22�
Eccentricity	0.179
Physical characteristics ^{1 (ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html)}
Diameter	95.4 km
Rotation period ^{3 (http://charlie.psi.edu/pds/)}	8 hours
Spectral class	C?
Abs. magnitude	8.76
Albedo ^{4 (http://dorothy.as.arizona.edu/DSN/IRAS/index_iras.html)}	0.061
History ^{2 (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html)}
Discoverer	O. Lesser, W. Forster, 1860

62 Erato is a large and dark, probably carbonaceous main belt asteroid. It is a member of the Themis asteroid family.

Erato is the first asteroid to have been credited with co-discoverers, Oskar Lesser and Wilhelm Forster, who discovered it on September 14, 1860. It was their first and only asteroid discovery. It is named after Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry in Greek mythology.

Categories: Stub | Main Belt asteroids

Results from FactBites:

Emily Moran Virtual Poster (809 words)
	Erato is a genus of five species distributed from Costa Rica to Bolivia with its main center of diversity in Ecuador.
	Erato has five species, one of which is newly described, with the greatest diversity in Ecuador.
	Erato was strongly supported as monophyletic, and as sister to Philoglossa.

More results at FactBites »

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