(7) Iris

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(7 ) Iris is an asteroid of the main belt, which was discovered on August 13, 1847 by John Russell Hind as the seventh asteroid.

It was named after celestial bodies Iris, a messenger of the gods in Greek mythology.

Iris moves at a distance of 1.8 ( perihelion ) to 2.9 ( aphelion ) astronomical units, in 3.7 years on an eccentric orbit around the sun. The orbit is inclined 5.5 ° to the ecliptic, the orbital eccentricity is 0.23.

With a diameter of 209 km Iris is one of the largest asteroids of the main belt. Your rotation period is 7.1 hours.

Iris has a relatively bright silicate- rich surface with an albedo of 0.28. While the opposition Iris reaches a brightness of 8.1 mag and is it one of the brightest asteroids in the night sky. To find them but you need a telescope or a bright prism binoculars.

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