666 Desdemona
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | A. Kopff |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 23 July 1908 |
| Designations | |
| (666) Desdemona | |
| Pronunciation | /dɛzdɪˈmoʊnə/ |
Named after | Desdemona (character in Othello) |
| 1908 DM | |
| main-belt · (middle) | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 107.90 yr (39,410 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.2102 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9755 AU |
| 2.5928 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2381 |
| 4.18 yr (1,525 days) | |
| 309.91° | |
| 0° 14m 9.96s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.5856° |
| 215.41° | |
| 174.16° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 27.04±1.0 km (IRAS:17) 27.22 km (derived) 27.37±0.71 km 31.485±0.116 km 32.74±0.37 km |
| 13.52±0.5 km | |
| 9.6 h 14.607±0.004 h 15.45±0.01 h | |
| 0.095±0.015 0.1026±0.0207 0.105±0.006 0.1055±0.008 (IRAS:17) 0.1372 (derived) | |
| S | |
| 10.6 · 10.90 | |
666 Desdemona is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 July 1908, by German astronomer August Kopff at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany, and named after Desdemona, character in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. The name may have been inspired by the asteroid's provisional designation 1908 DM.