54 Alexandra is a carbonaceous asteroid from the intermediate asteroid belt, approximately 155 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on 10 September 1858, and named after the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt; it was the first asteroid to be named after a male.

Description

On 17 May 2005, this asteroid occulted a faint star (magnitude 8.5) and the event was observed and timed in a number of locations within the U.S. and Mexico. As a result, a silhouette profile was produced, yielding a roughly oval cross-section with dimensions of 160 × 135km (± 1km). The mass of the asteroid can be estimated based upon the mutually perturbing effects of other bodies, yielding an estimate of .

Photometric observations of this asteroid during 1990–92 gave a light curve with a period of 18.14 ± 0.04 hours and a brightness variation of 0.10 in magnitude. Alexandra has been studied by radar. It was the namesake and largest member of the former Alexandra asteroid family; a dynamic group of C-type asteroids that share similar orbital elements. Other members included 70 Panopaea and 145 Adeona. 145 Adeona was subsequently assigned to the Adeona family, with Alexandra and Panopaea being dropped.

In popular culture

In the Swedish film Aniara, 54 Alexandra is the closest celestial body which the off-course and out-of-control spacecraft will approach before it leaves the Solar System.

References

External links

• , Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2008)

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info )

• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books

• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend

• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center