(887) Alinda

Template: Infobox Asteroid / Maintenance / Error 1

( 887 ) Alinda is a planetoid from the group of Amor asteroids. Alinda was discovered on November 3, 1918 by the German astronomer Max Wolf. Named the asteroid is either the city Alinda in Asia Minor or after a character in the mythology of Australian Aborigines ( Man in the Moon ).

Alinda moves between 1.0815 AU ( perihelion ) and 3.8870 AU ( aphelion ) in 3.92 years on a very eccentric (e = 0.5647 ) orbit around the sun. This is inclined at 9.3329 ° to the ecliptic.

Alinda has a diameter of 4.2 km, and is rotated in about 73 hours and 58 seconds to its own axis. The albedo is 0.31. Alinda reached at a maximum possible approach to Earth of 0.1037 AU, a brightness of 9.8 mag.

Alinda Group

In addition to the membership of the Amor asteroids, Alinda has some special properties which makes it a name to a separate group of objects. This group moves in a 3:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter and in a 1:4 resonance to the earth, that is, they orbit during Jupiter orbit three times and within four Earth years once the sun. Members have semi-major axis of about 2.5 AU. The orbits of these asteroids are disturbed by the resonance with Jupiter, which means that the area located there is cleared of asteroids ( there is one of the Kirkwood gaps in the main belt ). Thus, the eccentricities of these objects are constantly increased until the resonance is resolved when approaching one of the inner planets. Some Alinda asteroids have near or within the Earth's orbit its perihelion. Another representative of this group is the asteroid ( 4179 ) Toutatis, with the Earth's orbit regularly about every four years approximates our home planet due to its 1:4 resonance.