| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Annibale de Gasparis |
| Discovery date | April 26, 1865 |
| Designations | |
| (83) Beatrix | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbiːətrɪks/[1] |
Named after | Beatrice Portinari |
| Main belt | |
| Adjectives | Beatrician /biːəˈtrɪʃən/[2] |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5) | |
| Aphelion | 393.528 Gm (2.631 AU) |
| Perihelion | 334.023 Gm (2.233 AU) |
| 363.776 Gm (2.432 AU) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.082 |
| 1385.035 d (3.79 a) | |
Average orbital speed | 19.07 km/s |
| 141.862° | |
| Inclination | 4.966° |
| 27.800° | |
| 167.170° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 81.4 km |
| Mass | 5.6×1017 kg |
| 10.11 hours | |
| 0.092 [3] | |
| X | |
| 8.66 | |
Beatrix (minor planet designation: 83 Beatrix) is a fairly large asteroid orbiting in the inner part of the main asteroid belt. It was discovered by Annibale de Gasparis on April 26, 1865. It was his last asteroid discovery. A diameter of at least 68 kilometres (42 mi) was determined from the Beatrician stellar occultation observed on June 15, 1983. It is named for Beatrice Portinari,[4] beloved of Dante Alighieri and immortalized by him in La Vita Nuova and The Divine Comedy.
On February 16, 2001, an occultation of a magnitude +9.09 star by this asteroid was observed from three locations. The resulting chords matched an elliptical profile with a mean radius of 35.9 km. The observers noted some dimming and flickering at the beginning of the event, which may indicate the star was binary or the asteroid has an irregular shape. Previous occultations had been observed in 1983 and 1990, which produced a much larger size estimate of 81.4 km.[5]
