2340 Hathor

2340 Hathor

Discovery
Discovered by	C.T. Kowal
Discovery date	October 22, 1976
Designations
Named after	Hathor
Alternative names	1976 UA
Minor planet category	Aten, PHA
Orbital characteristics
Epoch January 1, 2007 (JD 2454101.5 )
Aphelion	1.224 AU, 183.054 Gm
Perihelion	0.464 AU, 69.443 Gm
Semi-major axis	0.844 AU, 126.248 Gm
Eccentricity	0.450
Orbital period	0.775 a , 283.169 d
Average orbital speed	30.713 km/s
Mean anomaly	72.104°
Inclination	5.854 °
Longitude of ascending node	211.516°
Argument of perihelion	35.936°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	0.3 km (assumed)
Albedo	0.15 (assumed)
Spectral type	Sq
Absolute magnitude (H)	20.0

2340 Hathor is an asteroid that was discovered on October 22, 1976 by C.T. Kowal at Palomar. Like the other objects of Aten type, Hathor is named for an Egyptian deity. Known as a sky-goddess and the daughter of Ra, Hathor was also identified with Aphrodite. The name was proposed by E. Helin, who made an independent discovery of the object, and also made crucial recovery observations in 1981. Hathor was the 3rd Aten asteroid to be numbered.

Hathor passed 0.007752 AU (1,159,700 km; 720,600 mi) from Earth on October 20, 1976. It approaches to within 30 Gm, or about 80 lunar distances, of Earth 17 times in the 21st century. The October 2014 Earth approach will be studied by the Goldstone Deep Space Network. Hathor will pass 0.00658 AU (984,000 km; 612,000 mi) from Earth on October 21, 2069.

It has been observed by radar astronomy and the orbital solution includes non-gravitational forces.

External links

• neodys