Asteroid Davida
Written by Jerry Coffey
511 Davida
The asteroid Davida is a C type asteroid which means that it is a carbonaeous asteroid. C type are the most common variety forming around 75% of known asteroids, and an even higher percentage in the outer part of the belt beyond 2.7 AU, which is dominated by this asteroid type. The proportion of C-types may actually be greater than this, because C-types are much darker( albedos typically in the 0.03 to 0.10 range) than most other asteroid types except D types and others common only at the extreme outer edge of the Main Belt. Being darker they are harder to find in space; therefore, they are harder to count accurately. This type of asteroid has very similar spectra to carbonaeous chondrite meteorites whose chemical composition is approximately the same as the Sun and the primitive solar nebula, except that they do not contain volatiles. Hydrated minerals are present, though.
The asteroid Davida is one of the few main belt asteroids whose shape has been determined by ground-based visual observation. From 2002 to 2007, astronomers at the Keck Observatory used the Keck II telescope, which is fitted with adaptive optics, to photograph 511 Davida.
Even though this asteroid will never threaten Earth it is of interest because of its size and mass. Not to mention the enormous flat area on its surface that could very well be a global impact crater.
Answers.com has a little information on the asteroid Davida. Here on Universe Today we have a great article on the adaptive equipment that the Keck Observatory used to see 511 Davida. Just for fun here is a link to an episode on Astronomy Cast about the search for E.T.
Filed under: Astronomy
Tags: 511 Davida, asteroid Davida
