(9) Metis

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(9 ) Metis is an asteroid of the main asteroid belt, which was discovered on April 25, 1848 by Andrew Graham as the ninth asteroid. The name refers to the Greek goddess Metis, the mother of Pallas Athena.

Metis moves at a distance of 2.1 ( perihelion ) to 2.7 ( aphelion ) astronomical units, in 3.7 years on an eccentric orbit around the sun. The orbit is inclined 5.6 ° to the ecliptic, the orbital eccentricity is 0.22.

Metis has a diameter of 190 km. It rotates in about five hours on its axis. The albedo is 0.12. While the opposition Metis achieves a brightness of 9.1 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.

Analyzes of the light curves of Metis gave reason to believe that the asteroid is accompanied by a natural satellite. However, this could not yet be confirmed. 1993 Metis was observed using the Hubble telescope. It was found that the asteroid has an irregular shape. Satellites were not found there.