124 Alkeste

124 Alkeste

Discovery
Discovered by	Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
Discovery date	August 23, 1872
Designations
Named after	Alcestis
Alternate name(s)
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5)
Aphelion	423.558 Gm (2.831 AU)
Perihelion	363.297 Gm (2.428 AU)
Semi-major axis	393.427 Gm (2.630 AU)
Eccentricity	0.077
Orbital period	1557.784 d (4.26 a)
Average orbital speed	18.34 km/s
Mean anomaly	253.158°
Inclination	2.951°
Longitude of ascending node	188.184°
Argument of perihelion	63.214°
Proper orbital elements
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	76.4 km
Mass	4.7×1017 kg
Mean density	? g/cm³
Equatorial surface gravity	0.0214 m/s²
Escape velocity	0.0404 km/s
Rotation period	? d
Albedo	?
Temperature	~172 K
Spectral type	S
Absolute magnitude (H)	8.11

124 Alkeste is a large main-belt asteroid. It is an S-type in composition. C.H.F. Peters discovered the asteroid on August 23, 1872 from the observatory at Hamilton College, New York State. The name was chosen by Adelinde Weiss, wife of the astronomer Edmund Weiss, and refers to Alcestis, a woman in Greek mythology.

Only one stellar occultation by Alkeste has been observed, when the asteroid passed in front of the third magnitude star Beta Virginis on June 24, 2003. The event was observed from Australia and New Zealand.^{[citation needed]}