Minor planet category Main belt Aphelion 3.3224 AU (497.02 Gm) Inclination 3.186° Discoverer Johann Palisa Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 13 October 1874 Observation arc 139.10 yr (50805 d) Discovered 13 October 1874 Orbits Sun Discovery site Pola Observatory | |
Perihelion 2.14323 AU (320.623 Gm) Similar 142 Polana, 153 Hilda, 178 Belisana, 36 Atalante, 192 Nausikaa | ||
140 Siwa /ˈʃiːwə/ is a large and dark main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on October 13, 1874, and named after Šiwa, the Slavic goddess of fertility.
The Rosetta comet probe was to visit Siwa on its way to comet 46P/Wirtanen in July, 2008. However, the mission was rerouted to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and the flyby had to be abandoned.
Attempts to measure the rotation period of this asteroid have produced inconsistent results ranging from 14.7 to 32 hours. Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico during 2010 gave an irregular light curve with a period of 34.407 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.05 ± 0.01 in magnitude.
A 2004 study of the spectrum matched a typical C-type asteroid with typical carbonaceous chondrite makeup. There are no absorption features of mafic minerals found. The classification was later revised to a P-type asteroid.