1009 Sirene


Sirene, provisional designation, is an eccentric asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 31 October 1923. The asteroid was named after the Siren from Greek mythology.

Orbit and classification

Sirene is a Mars-crossing asteroid with a notably large semi-major axis is 2.62 AU, due to its high eccentricity of 0.46. It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 1.4–3.8 AU once every 4 years and 3 months. Its orbit has an inclination of 16° with respect to the ecliptic.
The body's observation arc begins 9 days after its official discovery observation at Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg. On 8 June 1949, Sirene passed from Mars.

Aethra group and mass of Mars

Sirene had been of great interest in 1930s. After its discovery, it was observed at Algiers, Bergedorf, Heidelberg, Milan, Vienna and Wiliams Bay in the United States, where it became too faint to be accurately observed. It was regarded as an excellent example of a member of the then called "Aethra group" – 132 Aethra was the first discovered Mars-crossing asteroid – highly appropriate to measure the exact mass of Mars on its next opposition near perihelion in 1937. However, after its last observation at Wiliams Bay in 1924, Sirene had only been observed once at Turku Observatory in 1940, and remained unobserved until the 1980s.

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Sirene has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid's rotation period, shape and poles remain unknown.

Diameter and albedo

Sirene has not been observed by any large-scale, space-based surveys such as IRAS, NEOWISE and Akari. Based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion, Sirene measures 5 kilometers in diameter for an absolute magnitude of 13.9 and an assumed stony albedo of 0.20. For an assumed albedo of 0.10 and 0.05, its calculated diameter would increase to 7.1 and 10 kilometers, respectively.

Naming

This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after the Siren, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955.