![]() | |
Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | J.R. Hind |
Discovery date | 18 October 1847 |
Designations | |
(8) Flora | |
Pronunciation | /ˈflɔːrə/ |
Named after | Flōra |
Main belt (Flora family) | |
Adjectives | Florian /ˈflɔːriən/ |
Symbol | ![]() |
Orbital characteristics[1] | |
Epoch 31 March 2024 (JD 2460400.5) | |
Aphelion | 2.55 AU (381 million km) |
Perihelion | 1.86 AU (278 million km) |
2.20 AU (329 million km) | |
Eccentricity | 0.15650 |
3.27 yr (1192.84 d) | |
317.3° | |
Inclination | 5.889° |
110.87° | |
1 February 2024 | |
285.6° | |
Earth MOID | 0.87 AU (130 million km) |
Proper orbital elements[2] | |
Proper semi-major axis | 2.2014 AU |
Proper eccentricity | 0.1449 |
Proper inclination | 5.574° |
Proper mean motion | 110.2 deg / yr |
Proper orbital period | 3.26679 yr (1193.194 d) |
Precession of perihelion | 32.017 arcsec / yr |
Precession of the ascending node | −35.51 arcsec / yr |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 136 km × 136 km × 113 km[3] 145 km × 145 km × 120 km[4] |
146±2 km[5] 128 km[3] | |
Flattening | 0.18[a] |
Mass | (4±1.6)×1018 kg[5] (6.62±0.84)×1018 kg[b][6] |
Mean density | 2.4±1.0 g/cm3[5] 3.04±1.39 g/cm3[6] |
0.533 d (12.799 h)[1] | |
0.224 (calculated)[5] 0.226[1] | |
S[1] | |
7.9[7] to 11.6 | |
6.61[1] | |
0.21" to 0.053" | |
8 Flora is a large, bright main-belt asteroid. It is the innermost large asteroid: no asteroid closer to the Sun has a diameter above 25 kilometres (20% that of Flora), and not until 20-km 149 Medusa was discovered was an asteroid known to orbit at a closer mean distance.[8] It is the seventh-brightest asteroid with a mean opposition magnitude of +8.7.[9] Flora can reach a magnitude of +8.1 at a favorable opposition near perihelion, such as occurred in November 2020 when it was 0.88 AU (132 million km; 340 LD) from Earth.[10]
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