(52) Europa
Template: Infobox Asteroid / Maintenance / Error 1
(52 ) Europe is one of the main asteroid belt asteroid, which was discovered on February 4, 1858 by Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt. It is named after Europe, the princess from Greek mythology.
Europe moves at a distance of 2.8 ( perihelion ) to 3.4 ( aphelion ) astronomical units in 5.4 years around the sun. The orbit is inclined 7.5 ° to the ecliptic, the orbital eccentricity is 0.11.
With an average diameter of around 300 km to Europe is one of the largest asteroids of the main belt. It has a dark surface with an albedo of 0.06.
Occultation 3 July 2011
On July 3, 2011, a rare cover ( occultation ) was held a fixed star in the constellation Virgo. The occultation of the star took up to 17.9 seconds and was seen in a strip of North America. For many, precise observations of the occultation, the shape and size of the asteroid can be determined more accurately.