52 Europa is one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt, having a mean diameter of 303 km. It is the 6th largest asteroid currently known.
Discovery
Europa was discovered on February 4, 1858, by Hermann Goldschmidt from his balcony in Paris.
Naming
Europa the asteroid was named after Europa, one of Zeus's conquests in Greek mythology, a name it shares with Jupiter's moon Europa.
Stats
Diameter (mean): 303 km
Semi-major axis: 3.097 AU
Orbital Period: 5.45 years
Rotation period: 5.63 hrs
Date discovered: 1858.2.4
Class: C
(data from JPL Small-Body Database)
Orbit
Europa orbits close to the Hygiea asteroid family, but is not a member.
Physical characteristics
Europa is highly porous and classified as a dark C-type asteroid, meaning the surface contains a large amount of carbon. This gives Europa a dark surface that reflects only a small amount of light that falls on it.
Spectroscopic studies have found evidence of olivines and pyroxenes on the surface, and there is some indication that there may be compositional differences between different regions.
Rotation Period
Europa is one of the larger asteroids with spin period not clearly determined.
Lightcurve data for Europa has been particularly tricky to interpret, so much so that for a long time its period of rotation was in dispute (ranging from 5 and a half hours to 11 hours), despite numerous observations.
It has now been determined that Europa is a prograde rotator, but the exact direction in which its pole points remains ambiguous.
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