373 Melusina

373 Melusina
	Modelled shape of Melusina from its lightcurve
Discovery
Discovered by	Auguste Charlois
Discovery date	15 September 1893
Designations
MPC designation	(373) Melusina
Pronunciation	/ˌmɛl(j)ʊˈsiːnə/ MEL-(y)uu-SEE-nə
Named after	? Melusina
Alternative designations	1893 AJ · A893 RA
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	111.58 yr (40753 d)
Aphelion	3.5593 AU (532.46 Gm)
Perihelion	2.67382 AU (399.998 Gm)
Semi-major axis	3.11658 AU (466.234 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.14207
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.50 yr (2009.6 d)
Mean anomaly	127.53°
Mean motion	0° 10m 44.904s / day
Inclination	15.432°
Longitude of ascending node	3.8355°
Argument of perihelion	347.763°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	103+6; −3 km
Synodic rotation period	12.97 h (0.540 d)
Geometric albedo	0.0429±0.004
Spectral type	C
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.13

373 Melusina (prov. designation: A893 RA or 1893 AJ) is a large Main belt asteroid.^[2] It is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 15 September 1893 in Nice.

References

^ "melusine". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ ^a ^b "373 Melusina (1893 AJ)". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
^ Choukroun, A.; Marciniak, A.; Ďurech, J.; Perła, J.; Ogłoza, W.; Szakats, R.; Molnar, L.; Pal, A.; Monteiro, F. (2025). "Asteroid sizes determined with thermophysical model and stellar occultations". arXiv:2505.09437 [astro-ph.EP].