83 Beatrix

83 Beatrix
A three-dimensional model of 83 Beatrix based on its lightcurve
Discovery
Discovered byAnnibale de Gasparis
Discovery date26 April 1865
Designations
Pronunciation/ˈbiːətrɪks/ BEE-ə-triks
Named after
Beatrice Portinari
Main belt
AdjectivesBeatrician (/ˌbiːəˈtrɪʃən/ BEE-ə-TRISH-ən)
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 9 June 2026 (JD 2461200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Aphelion2.6335 AU
Perihelion2.2289 AU
2.4312 AU
Eccentricity0.0832
1384.64 d (3.7909 yr)
19.07 km/s
183.987°
Inclination4.9671°
27.6549°
169.864°
TJupiter3.497
Physical characteristics
Dimensions81.4 km
Mass(7.2±1.0)×1017 kg
Mean density
1.03 g/cm3
10.11 hours
0.092
X
8.66

83 Beatrix is a fairly large asteroid orbiting in the inner part of the main asteroid belt. It was discovered by Annibale de Gasparis on 26 April 1865. It was his last asteroid discovery. A diameter of at least 68 kilometres (42 mi) was determined from the Beatrician stellar occultation observed on 15 June 1983. It is named for Beatrice Portinari, beloved of Dante Alighieri and immortalized by him in La Vita Nuova and The Divine Comedy.

On 16 February 2001, an occultation of a magnitude +9.09 star by this asteroid was observed from three locations. The resulting chords matched an elliptical profile with a mean radius of 35.9 km. The observers noted some dimming and flickering at the beginning of the event, which may indicate the star was binary or the asteroid has an irregular shape. Previous occultations had been observed in 1983 and 1990, which produced a much larger size estimate of 81.4 km.

Beatrician orbit

Notes

  1. ↑ Calculated from its standard gravitational parameter GM = 0.048±0.007 km3/s2.
  2. ↑ Assuming a diameter of 111 km.

References

  1. ↑ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ↑ "Beatrician". Oxford English Dictionary (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ↑ "JPL Small-Body Database Lookup: 83 Beatrix (A865 HA)" (2025-12-21 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
  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. ↑ Asteroid Data Sets Archived 2009-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ (83) Beatrix In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer. 2003. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_84. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.
  7. ↑ Povenmire, H.; Bookamer, R. (September 2001), "The Feb. 16, 2001 Asteroid (83) Beatrix Occultation", Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 36: A166, Bibcode:2001M&PSA..36R.166P.