{{Short description|Large main-belt asteroid}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox planet | minorplanet = yes | name = 259 Aletheia | background = #D6D6D6 | symbol= 24px|Astrological symbol | image = | caption = | discovery_ref = <ref name="jpldata" /> | discovered = 28 June 1886 | discoverer = C. H. F. Peters | discovery_site = Litchfield Obs., Clinton | mpc_name = (259) Aletheia | alt_names = A886 MA, 1947 LD | pronounced = {{IPAc-en|æ|l|@|'|θ|iː|ə}}<ref>'Alethia' in Noah Webster (1884) ''A Practical Dictionary of the English Language'', with ''-eia'' pronounced as in 'Hygeia', 'apatheia', etc.</ref> | adjective = Aletheian | named_after = Aletheia<ref name="springer" /> | mp_category = main-belt | orbit_ref = <ref name="jpldata" /> | epoch = 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | uncertainty = 0 | observation_arc = {{nowrap|117.00 yr (42,736 days)}}&nbsp; | aphelion = 3.5353 AU | perihelion = 2.7347 AU | semimajor = 3.1350 AU | eccentricity = 0.1276 | period = 5.55 yr (2027.5 days) | mean_anomaly = 71.260° | inclination = 10.813° | asc_node = 86.864° | arg_peri = 168.07° | moid = 1.7207 AU | dimensions = {{val|174.32|1.05|u=km}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=259%20Aletheia | title=Small-Body Database Lookup }}</ref><br />{{val|190.05|6.82}} km<ref name="Carry2012"/> | mass = {{val|7.79|0.43|e=18}} kg<ref name="Carry2012"/> | density = 2.16 ± 0.26<ref name="Carry2012"/> g/cm<sup>3</sup> | rotation = 8.143 h | albedo = 0.0436 | spectral_type = B–V = 0.698<br />U–B = 0.311<br />CP {{small|(Tholen)}}, X {{small|(SMASS)}} | abs_magnitude = 7.76 }}

'''259 Aletheia''' is a very large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by German–American astronomer Christian Peters on June 28, 1886, at Litchfield Observatory, Clinton, New York. The dark and heterogeneously composed X-type (Tholen: CP-type) asteroid contains primitive carbonaceous materials, responsible for its low albedo of 0.04. Aletheia measures about 185 kilometers in diameter and belongs to the largest asteroids of the main-belt. It has a semi-major axis of 3.1&nbsp;AU and an orbit inclined by 11 degrees with a period of 5.55 years.<ref name="jpldata" />

Richard P. Binzel and Schelte Bus further added to the knowledge about this asteroid in a lightwave survey published in 2003. This project was known as Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (0.435-0.925 micrometre) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999.<ref>Bus, S., Binzel, R. P. ''Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II''. EAR-A-I0028-4-SBN0001/SMASSII-V1.0. NASA Planetary Data System, 2003.</ref><ref>[http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi#top JPL Small-Body Database Browser<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hill Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the Minor Planet Center.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/index_files/Page334.htm |title=Lightcurve Results<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=9 March 2008 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725043437/http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/index_files/Page334.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

It is named after the Greek goddess of truth, Aletheia, the daughter of Zeus and one of the nurses of Apollo.<ref name="springer" />

== References == <references>

<ref name="jpldata">{{cite web |type=2015-09-15 last obs. |title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 259 Aletheia |url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2000259 |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |accessdate=14 October 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="springer">{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (259) Aletheia |last=Schmadel |first=Lutz D. |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |page=38 |date=2003 |isbn=978-3-540-29925-7 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_260 }}</ref>

<ref name="Carry2012">{{Citation |first1 = B. |last1 = Carry |title = Density of asteroids |journal = Planetary and Space Science |volume = 73 |issue = 1 |pages = 98–118 |date = December 2012 |doi = 10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009 |bibcode = 2012P&SS...73...98C |postscript= . |arxiv = 1203.4336 |s2cid = 119226456 }} See Table 1.</ref>

</references> <!-- end of reflist -->

== External links == * [http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/lightcurves/259.gif Lightcurve plot of (259) Aletheia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913174104/http://www.antelopehillsobservatory.org/lightcurves/259.gif |date=13 September 2020 }}, Antelope Hills Observatory * [http://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database] * [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances] * [http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/parallax/phot/LCSUMPUB.TXT Asteroid Lightcurve Data File] * {{AstDys|259}} * {{JPL small body}}

{{Minor planets navigator |258 Tyche |number=259 |260 Huberta}} {{Small Solar System bodies}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:000259}} 000259 Aletheia Aletheia Category:CP-type asteroids (Tholen) Category:X-type asteroids (SMASS) 18860628