Discovery date 11 January 1989 Pronunciation ˈhaɪərə (hye'-ər-ə) Discovered 11 January 1989 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Jupiter trojan | MPC designation 7119 Hiera Alternative names 1989 AV2 Aphelion 5.68 m Discovery site Palomar Observatory | |
Discovered by C. Shoemaker
E. Shoemaker Named after Hiera (Greek mythology) Discoverers Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene Merle Shoemaker Similar 7166 Kennedy, Jupiter trojan, Sun, 3554 Amun, Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 | ||
7119 Hiera (hye'-ƏR-ə), provisional designation 1989 AV2, is a carbonaceous Jupiter trojan and potentially slow rotator from the Greek camp, approximately 76 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 11 January 1989, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in California.
The dark C-type Jovian asteroid resides in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's L4 Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the gas giant's orbit (see Trojans in astronomy). It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.6–5.7 AU once every 11 years and 8 months (4,274 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 19° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1987, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 14 motnths prior to its discovery.
In June 2009, this Jovian asteroid was observed by astronomer Stefano Mottola at the Spanish Calar Alto Observatory during 5 consecutive nights. Although a light-curve could not be obtained and a systematic instrumental error could not be ruled out, the body displayed a slowly, ever decreasing brightness of 0.1 in magnitude, which would translate into a rotation period of at least 400 hours (U=1).
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 56 and 77 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.036 and 0.072. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the results obtained by IRAS, and derives an albedo of 0.0389 with a diameter of 76.5 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 9.7.
The minor planet was named after Hiera from Greek mythology, a female general in the Trojan war. However, her name was removed from Homer's Iliad, as to not diminish the greatness of Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and cause for the Trojan war (also see 101 Helena). Naming citation was published on 4 May 1999 (M.P.C. 34625). Although the asteroid resides in the Greek camp, the citation describes Hiera as a general of the Mysians, who fought on the Trojan, not the Greek side in the Trojan War.