14 Irene

14 Irene
A three dimensional model of 14 Irene from light curve inversion on the top and images of the asteroid on the bottom.
Discovery
Discovered byJohn Russell Hind
Discovery siteGeorge Bishop's Observatory
Discovery date20 May 1851
Designations
(14) Irene
Pronunciation/aɪˈriːniː/[1]
Named after
Irēnē
A906 QC;
A913 EA;
1952 TM
Main belt
AdjectivesIrenean /aɪrɪˈniːən/ (< Irenæan)
Symbol (historical)
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
Aphelion3.009 AU
Perihelion2.167 AU
2.588 AU
Eccentricity0.163
4.163 yr (1520.59 d)
12.926°
Inclination9.130°
86.010°
98.265°
Jupiter MOID2.016 AU
TJupiter3.385
Physical characteristics
Dimensions(167 × 153 × 139) ± 16 km[3]
152 km (Dunham)[2]
155 ± 6 km[4]
Mass(6.94±1.63)×1018 kg[a][3]
(5.097 ± 0.772/0.941)×1018 kg[4]
Mean density
3.73±1.47 g/cm3[3]
2.614 ± 0.396/0.483 g/cm3[4]
0.6275 d (15.06 h)[2][5]
0.159[2]
S[2]
8.85[6] to 12.30
6.[2]
0.17″ to 0.052"

14 Irene (/aɪˈriːniː/) is a large main-belt asteroid, discovered by the English astronomer John Russell Hind on 20 May 1851. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.585 AU with a period of 4.16 yr and an eccentricity of 0.168. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 9.1° to the plane of the ecliptic.[2]

Observations from 2007 indicate that the rotation pole of 14 Irene lies close to the plane of the ecliptic, indicating it has an obliquity close to 90°.[7] The fairly flat Irenian lightcurves indicate somewhat spherical proportions. This is a stony S-type asteroid with a mean diameter of around 152 km.[3][2] It is spinning with a rotation period of 15 hours.[7]

There have been seven reported stellar occultation events by Irene. The best is a three chord event observed in 2013.[8]

History

Irene was discovered by English astronomer John R. Hind on the very early morning of 20 May 1851 from George Bishop's Observatory in London, England. At that time, he was observing near the star Lalande 29490, around the 16th hour of right ascension and 10–15°S of declination in the constellation of Scorpius.[9][10] For several years prior, he had examined this region of the sky as a nearby star had been erroneously omitted from Wölfer's star charts.[11] Near Lalande 29490, Xi Scorpii, and 50 Librae,[b] he noticed a pale blue object of about the ninth magnitude that had not been recorded before.[9][10] Since such an object was unlikely to have gone unnoticed in prior sweeps of the area, he quickly suspected its non-stellar nature. This was confirmed by follow-up observations throughout that morning, and Hind announced his discovery of a new planet[c] through The London Times on 21 May 1851.[10][13] Further announcements of the discovery were published by journals such as Astronomische Nachrichten on 2 June 1851 and The Astronomical Journal on 5 June 1851.[14][13] Irene was the fourth asteroid discovered by Hind[10] and the fourteenth discovered in history.[15] Hind would go on to discover a further six asteroids.[16]

Naming

Irene was named after Irēnē, a personification of peace in Greek mythology. She was one of the Horae, daughter of Zeus and Themis. The name was suggested by Sir John Herschel.[17] Hind wrote,

"You will readily discover that this name [...] has some relation to this event (the Great Industrial Exhibition) which is now filling our metropolis [London] with the talent of all civilised nations, with those of Peace, the productions of Art and Science, in which all mankind must feel an interest."

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in the Crystal Palace of Hyde Park, London, ran from 1 May until 18 October 1851.

Symbol

Hind suggested that the symbol for the asteroid should be "A dove carrying an olive-branch, with a star on its head",[18] but it was hardly drawn before the use of graphical symbols to represent asteroids was dropped entirely.[19] It was included in Unicode 17.0 as U+1CEC7 𜻇 ().[20][21]

Orbit

Irene orbits the Sun at an average distance, or semi-major axis, of 2.59 astronomical units (AU), placing it in the main asteroid belt. Along its 4.16 year long orbit, its distance from the Sun varies from 2.17 AU at perihelion to 3.01 AU at aphelion due to its orbital eccentricity of 0.16. Its orbit is inclined by 9° with respect to the ecliptic plane, and it does not belong to any known asteroid family, classifying it as a background asteroid.[2][22]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ (3.49 ± 0.82) × 10−12 M☉
  2. ^ Formerly designated as Psi Librae[12]: 57 
  3. ^ At the time of Irene's discovery, asteroids were frequently called planets. They would later be reclassified as "minor planets".

References

  1. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 14 Irene" (2008-04-14 last obs). Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d Baer, James; Chesley, Steven; Matson, Robert (2011). "Astrometric masses of 26 asteroids and observations on asteroid porosity". The Astronomical Journal. 141 (5). Bibcode:2011AJ....141..143B. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/141/5/143.
  4. ^ a b c Fienga, A.; Avdellidou, C.; Hanuš, J. (February 2020). "Asteroid masses obtained with INPOP planetary ephemerides". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 492 (1). doi:10.1093/mnras/stz3407.
  5. ^ "Asteroid Lightcurve Parameters". Planetary Science Institute. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
  6. ^ "AstDys (14) Irene Ephemerides". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  7. ^ a b Pilcher, Frederick (October 2009). "New Lightcurves of 8 Flora, 13 Egeria, 14 Irene, 25 Phocaea 40 Harmonia, 74 Galatea, and 122 Gerda". Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. 36 (4): 133–136. Bibcode:2009MPBu...36..133P.
  8. ^ "Asteroid Data Sets". sbn.psi.edu. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  9. ^ a b Hind, John R. (21 May 1851). "Discovery of a New Planet". The London Times.
  10. ^ a b c d Hind, John R. (June 1851). "On the Discovery of a Fourth New Planet, at Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Regent's Park". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 11 (8): 170–175. Bibcode:1851MNRAS..11..170H. doi:10.1093/mnras/11.8.170a.
  11. ^ Hind, John R. (May 1851). "Discovery of Irene". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 11 (7): 149–152. doi:10.1093/mnras/11.7.149.
  12. ^ Bode, Johann Elert (1801). Allgemeine Beschreibung und Nachweisung der Gestirne (in German). Self-published. Bibcode:1801abun.book.....B.
  13. ^ a b Gould, Benjamin A. (June 1851). "New Planet". Astronomical Journal. 2 (27): 22. Bibcode:1851AJ......2...22G.
  14. ^ Hind, John R. (June 1851). "Letter from Mr. J. R. Hind to the Editor, Concerning the Discovery of a New Planet". Astronomische Nachrichten. 32: 259.
  15. ^ Gould, B. A. (January 1852). "On the symbolic notation of the asteroids". The Astronomical Journal. 2: 80. Bibcode:1852AJ......2...80G. doi:10.1086/100212.
  16. ^ Ashworth Jr., William B. (12 May 2021). "Scientist of the Day - John Russell Hind". Linda Hall Library. Archived from the original on 27 March 2025. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  17. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of minor planet names. Vol. 1 (5th ed.). Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 16. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
  18. ^ Hind, John Russell (1852). "From a Letter of Mr. Hind to the Editor". Astronomical Journal. 2: 22–23. Bibcode:1851AJ......2...22H. doi:10.1086/100162.
  19. ^ When did the asteroids become minor planets? Archived 2007-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ Bala, Gavin Jared; Miller, Kirk (18 September 2023). "Unicode request for historical asteroid symbols" (PDF). unicode.org. Unicode. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  21. ^ "Miscellaneous Symbols Supplement" (PDF). unicode.org. The Unicode Consortium. 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ "(14) Irene – Proper Elements". Asteroids Dynamic Site. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
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