Discovered by R. Luther Minor planet category Main belt Aphelion 3.4190 AU (511.48 Gm) Orbits Sun Discoverer Robert Luther | Discovery date 2 April 1869 Observation arc 135.87 yr (49628 d) Discovered 2 April 1869 Spectral type S-type asteroid Named after Hecuba | |
Perihelion 3.05922 AU (457.653 Gm) Discovery site Düsseldorf-Bilk Observatory Similar 107 Camilla, 167 Urda, 188 Menippe, 193 Ambrosia, 95 Arethusa | ||
108 Hecuba is a fairly large and bright main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by Karl Theodor Robert Luther on April 2, 1869, and named after Hecuba, wife of King Priam in the legends of the Trojan War in Greek Mythology. It became the first asteroid discovered to orbit near a 2:1 mean-motion resonance with the planet Jupiter, and is the namesake of the Hecuba group of asteroids.
In the Tholen classification system, it is categorized as a stony S-type asteroid, while the Bus asteroid taxonomy system lists it as an Sw asteroid. Observations performed at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado Springs, Colorado in during 2007 produced a light curve with a period of 17.859 ± 0.005 hours with a brightness range of 0.11 ± 0.02 in magnitude.
Hecuba orbits within the Hygiea family of asteroids but is not otherwise related to other family members because it has a silicate composition; Hygieas are dark C-type asteroids.