19 Fortuna

19 Fortuna
VLT-SPHERE image of Fortuna
Discovery
Discovered byJohn Russell Hind
Discovery siteGeorge Bishop's Observatory
Discovery date22 August 1852
Designations
Pronunciation/fɔːrˈtjuːnə/
Named after
Fortūna
A902 UG
Main belt
AdjectivesFortunian /fɔːrˈtjuːniən/
Symbol𜻌 (historical)
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
Aphelion2.828 AU
Perihelion2.056 AU
2.442 AU
Eccentricity0.159
3.816 yr (1393.907 d)
96.500°
Inclination1.573°
211.001°
182.515°
Earth MOID1.062 AU
Jupiter MOID2.601 AU
TJupiter3.483
Physical characteristics
Dimensions(242 × 203 × 192) ± 10 km
211±2 km
Mass(8.53±0.10)×1018 kg (2025)
(8.11±0.62)×1018 kg (2023)
Mean density
1.73±0.05 g/cm3 (2025)
1.65±0.13 g/cm3 (2023)
Equatorial surface gravity
~0.0629 m/s²
Equatorial escape velocity
~0.1190 km/s
7.443224±0.000001 h
29°
103°±3°
60°±3°
0.056
0.037
Temperature~180 K
G
8.88 to 12.95
7.49
7.13
0.25" to 0.072"

19 Fortuna is one of the largest main-belt asteroids. It has a composition similar to 1 Ceres: a darkly colored surface that is heavily space-weathered with the composition of primitive organic compounds, including tholins.

Fortuna is 225 km in diameter and has one of the darkest known geometric albedos for an asteroid over 150 km in diameter. Its albedo has been measured at 0.028 and 0.037. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.

History

Discovery

Fortuna was discovered by English astronomer John Russell Hind on the evening of 22 August 1852. He was observing from George Bishop's Observatory in London, England, when he spotted a magnitude 9 object with a yellowish color (possibly caused by the atmosphere). His discovery was announced in the scientific journal Astronomische Nachrichten on 31 August.

Name and symbol

Soon after discovery, the observatory's owner George Bishop encouraged Hind to choose a name for the asteroid. He chose "Fortuna", after the Roman goddess of fortune and misfortune.: 15  No astronomical symbol was provided in Hind's discovery announcements. A symbol of a star over Fortune's wheel 19 Fortuna symbol (U+1CECC 𜻌) appeared in the book An Astronomical Vocabulary, written by Hind and published on the year of Fortuna's discovery, but no explanation for the symbol was provided.: 9 

Orbit

Fortuna orbits the Sun with an average distance (or semi-major axis of 2.44 astronomical units (AU), an orbital period of 3.82 years, and an orbital inclination of 1.57°, placing it within the inner main asteroid belt.: 87  Along its elliptical orbit, its distance from the Sun varies between 2.06 AU at perihelion to 2.83 AU at aphelion due to an orbital eccentricity of 0.16. It does not belong to any known asteroid family, making it a background asteroid.

Physical characteristics

The Hubble Space Telescope observed Fortuna in 1993. It was resolved with an apparent diameter of 0.20 arcseconds (4.5 pixels in the Planetary Camera) and its shape was found to be nearly spherical. Satellites were searched for but none were detected.

Stellar occultations by Fortuna have been observed several times. Fortuna has been studied by radar.

Fortuna has been perturbed by the 80 km 135 Hertha and was initially estimated by Baer to have a mass of 1.08×1019 kg. A more recent estimate by Baer suggests it has a mass of 1.27×1019 kg.

Notes

  1. ↑ Calculated from its standard gravitational parameter GM = 0.569±0.007 km3/s2.

References

  1. ↑ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 19 Fortuna" (2024-11-14 last obs). Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Vernazza, P.; Ferrais, M.; Jorda, L.; Hanuš, J.; Carry, B.; Marsset, M.; et al. (October 2021). "VLT/SPHERE imaging survey of the largest main-belt asteroids: Final results and synthesis". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 654: A56. Bibcode:2021A&A...654A..56V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202141781. hdl:10261/263281. S2CID 239104699. A56.
  4. 1 2 Fuentes-Muñoz, Oscar; Farnocchia, Davide; Giorgini, Jon D.; Park, Ryan S. (1 December 2025). "Asteroid Mass Estimation by Mutual Perturbations During Close Encounters After Gaia Focused Product Release". The Astronomical Journal. 170 (6): 353. Bibcode:2025AJ....170..353F. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ae0cc9. ISSN 0004-6256. S2CID 283347135.
  5. 1 2 Li 李, Fan 凡; Yuan 袁, Ye 烨; Fu 傅, Yanning 燕宁; Chen 陈, Jian 健 (1 September 2023). "Dynamical Masses of 20 Asteroids Determined with Gaia DR3 Asteroid Observations". The Astronomical Journal. 166 (3): 93. Bibcode:2023AJ....166...93L. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ace52b. ISSN 0004-6256. S2CID 260534542.
  6. ↑ "AstDys (19) Fortuna Ephemerides". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  7. ↑ Storrs, Alex; Dunne; Conan; Mugnier; et al. (2005). "A closer look at main belt asteroids 1: WF/PC images" (PDF). Icarus. 173 (2): 409–416. Bibcode:2005Icar..173..409S. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.08.007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  8. ↑ Fornasier, S.; et al. (February 1999), "Spectroscopic comparison of aqueous altered asteroids with CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, 135: 65–73, Bibcode:1999A&AS..135...65F, doi:10.1051/aas:1999161.
  9. 1 2 3 Hind, John R. (August 1852). "Entdeckung eines neuen Planeten, von Herrn Hind in London". Astronomische Nachrichten. 35: 79–80.
  10. 1 2 Hind, J. R. (June 1852). "Fortuna". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 12 (8): 192. doi:10.1093/mnras/12.8.192.
  11. ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of minor planet names. Vol. 1 (5th ed.). Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 16. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_13. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
  12. ↑ Bala, Gavin Jared; Miller, Kirk (18 September 2023). "Unicode request for historical asteroid symbols" (PDF). unicode.org. Unicode. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  13. ↑ Blanco, C.; et al. (February 1996). "Earth-bound observations of asteroid 19 Fortuna imaging : lightcurves, pole direction and shape". Planetary and Space Science. 44 (2): 87–91. doi:10.1016/0032-0633(95)00079-8.
  14. ↑ "(19) Irene – Proper Elements". Asteroids Dynamic Site. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "Radar-Detected Asteroids and Comets". NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  16. ↑ Baer, James; Steven R. Chesley (2008). "Astrometric masses of 21 asteroids, and an integrated asteroid ephemeris". Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy. 100 (2008). Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007: 27–42. Bibcode:2008CeMDA.100...27B. doi:10.1007/s10569-007-9103-8.
  17. ↑ Jim Baer (2008). "Recent Asteroid Mass Determinations". Personal Website. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2008.