::10 Hygiea

Hygiea::title    Author::journal    Asteroid::category    Jpldata::surface    Which::ceres    First::barucci

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10 Hygiea is the fourth largest asteroid in the Solar System by volume and mass, and it is located in the asteroid belt. With somewhat oblong diameters of 350–500 km and a mass estimated to be 2.9% of the total mass of the belt,<ref>"Mass of 10 Hygiea" 0.445 / "Mass of Mbelt" 15 = 0.0296</ref> it is the largest of the class of dark C-type asteroids with a carbonaceous surface.

Despite its size, it appears very dim when observed from Earth. This is due to its dark surface and larger-than-average distance from the Sun. For this reason, several smaller asteroids were observed before Annibale de Gasparis discovered Hygiea on April 12, 1849. At most oppositions, Hygiea has a magnitude that is four magnitudes dimmer than Vesta's, and observing it will require at least a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} telescope. However, while at a perihelic opposition, it may be observable with 10x50 binoculars.

10 Hygiea sections
Intro  Discovery and name  Physical characteristics  Orbit and rotation  See also   References    External links   

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