1078 Mentha
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 7 December 1926 |
| Designations | |
| (1078) Mentha | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɛnθə/ |
Named after | Mentha (flowering plant) |
| 1926 XB& · 1951 CF1 1952 LD · A917 CB A924 EP | |
| main-belt · (inner) background | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 93.66 yr (34,208 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5832 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9555 AU |
| 2.2693 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1383 |
| 3.42 yr (1,249 days) | |
| 142.04° | |
| 0° 17m 17.88s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.3716° |
| 93.851° | |
| 43.568° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 9.94±0.28 km 12.619±0.242 km 13.59±3.01 km 13.660±0.134 km 13.675 km 13.68 km (taken) 15.37±2.11 km |
| 82.870±0.2341 h 85±2 h | |
| 0.126±0.259 0.1641 0.1819±0.0375 0.262±0.041 0.31±0.18 0.343±0.020 | |
| Tholen = S B–V = 0.889 U–B = 0.490 | |
| 11.33±0.11 · 11.455±0.002 (R) · 11.60 · 11.80 · 11.9 · 11.9±0.2 · 11.94 | |
1078 Mentha, provisional designation 1926 XB, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 December 1926, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. Only in 1958, it was realized that this object was a rediscovery of an already numbered but lost asteroid (864 Aase).
The asteroid was named after the flowering plant of the mint family, Mentha. It has a longer-than average spin rate of 85 hours and possibly an irregular, elongated shape.