View source for 125 Liberatrix

{{Short description|Main-belt asteroid}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox planet
 | minorplanet=yes
 | background=#D6D6D6
 | name=125 Liberatrix
 | image= 125Liberatrix (Lightcurve Inversion).png
| image_scale =
 | caption=A three-dimensional model of 125 Liberatrix based on its light curve.
 | discoverer=[[Paul Henry and Prosper Henry]]
 | discovered=11 September 1872
 | mpc_name=(125) Liberatrix
 | alt_names=A872 RA; 1902 EG;<br/>1943 FE; {{mp|1949 OE|1}};<br/>1949 SM; {{mp|1954 TD|1}}
 | pronounced={{IPAc-en|'|l|ɪ|b|ə|r|eɪ|t|r|ɪ|k|s}}<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/liberatrix |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322185702/https://www.lexico.com/definition/liberatrix |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 March 2020 |title=liberatrix |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref>
 | mp_category=[[Main belt]]<br />([[liberatrix family|liberatrix]])
 | epoch=31 July 2016 ([[Julian day|JD]] 2457600.5)
 | orbit_ref=<ref name="JPL"/>
 | semimajor={{Convert|2.74391|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}
 | perihelion={{Convert|2.53084|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}
 | aphelion={{Convert|2.95698|AU|Gm|abbr=on|lk=on}}
 | eccentricity=0.077651
 | period=4.55 [[Julian year (astronomy)|yr]] (1660.2 [[Julian year (astronomy)|d]])
 | inclination=4.66407°
 | asc_node=169.003°
 | arg_peri=109.288°
 | mean_anomaly=307.971[[Degree (angle)|°]]
 | avg_speed=17.96 km/s
 | dimensions={{val|43.58|2.3|ul=km}}<ref name="JPL"/><br />61.058 km<ref name="Pravec2012"/>
 | mass=8.7{{e|16}} kg
 | density=2.0 g/cm<sup>3</sup>
 | surface_grav=0.0122 m/s<sup>2</sup>
 | escape_velocity=0.0231 km/s
 | rotation={{Convert|3.968|h|d|abbr=on|lk=on}}<ref name="JPL"/><ref name="Durech2007"/>
 | spectral_type=[[M-type asteroid|M]] ([[Tholen classification|Tholen]])<ref name="Pravec2012"/>
 | abs_magnitude=9.04,<ref name="JPL"/> 8.90<ref name="Pravec2012"/>
 | albedo={{val|0.2253|0.026}}<ref name="JPL"/><br />0.1305 ± 0.0269<ref name="Pravec2012"/>
 | single_temperature=~168 [[kelvin|K]]
 | mean_motion={{Deg2DMS|0.216845|sup=ms}} / day
 | observation_arc=143.54 yr (52428 d)
 | uncertainty=0
 | moid={{Convert|1.51912|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}
 | jupiter_moid={{Convert|2.13019|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}
 | tisserand=3.340
}}

'''125 Liberatrix''' is a [[main-belt]] [[asteroid]]. It has a relatively [[reflective]] surface and an [[M-type asteroid|M-type spectrum]]. Liberatrix is a member of an [[asteroid family]] bearing its own name.

It was discovered by [[Paul Henry and Prosper Henry|Prosper Henry]] on 11 September 1872, from [[Paris]]. Some sources give Paul Henry sole credit for its discovery.<ref name="Lutz">Schmadel Lutz D.  ''Dictionary of Minor Planet Names'' (fifth edition), Springer, 2003. {{ISBN|3-540-00238-3}}.</ref>  The asteroid's name is a feminine version of the word "liberator". Henry may have chosen the name to mark the liberation of [[France]] from [[Prussia]] during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] in 1870. More specifically, it may honor [[Adolphe Thiers]], the first [[President of the French Republic]], who arranged a loan that enabled the Prussian troops to be removed from France.<ref name="Lutz"/>

In the late 1990s, a network of astronomers worldwide gathered [[lightcurve]] data to derive the spin states and shape models of 10 asteroids, including Liberatrix. Liberatrix's lightcurve has a large [[amplitude]] of 0.4 in [[Magnitude (astronomy)|magnitude]], indicating an elongated or irregular shape.<ref name="Durech2007"/><ref>Durech, J.; Kaasalainen, M.; Marciniak, A.; Allen, W. H. et al. "[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006yCat..34650331D Asteroid brightness and geometry]," ''Astronomy and Astrophysics'', Volume 465, Issue 1, April I 2007, pp. 331-337.</ref>

The spectrum of this asteroid matches a [[M-type asteroid]]. It may be the remnant of an asteroid that had undergone differentiation, with [[orthopyroxene]] minerals scattered evenly across the surface. There is no indication of hydration.<ref name="Hardersen1983"/>

To date, there have been at least two observed [[occultation]]s by Liberatrix. Early on 11 December 2014, Liberatrix occulted a 9th magnitude star and was visible over the majority of Southern California and a swath of Mexico.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="JPL">{{Citation
 | first1    = Donald K.
 | last1     = Yeomans
 | title     = 125 Liberatrix
 | work      = JPL Small-Body Database Browser
 | publisher = [[NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]
 | url       = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=125
 | accessdate= 12 May 2016
 | postscript= .}}</ref>

<ref name="Pravec2012">{{Citation
 | last1     = Pravec
 | first1    = P.
 | last2     = Harris
 | first2    = A. W.
 | last3     = Kusnirak
 | first3    = P.
 | last4     = Galad
 | first4    = A.
 | last5     = Hornoch
 | first5    = K.
 | display-authors = 1
 | title     = Absolute Magnitudes of Asteroids and a Revision of Asteroid Albedo Estimates from WISE Thermal Observations
 | work      = Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2012, Proceedings of the conference held May 16–20, 2012 in Niigata, Japan
 | issue     = 1667
 |date=May 2012
 | bibcode   = 2012LPICo1667.6089P
 | postscript= .}}</ref>

<ref name="Durech2007">{{Citation
 | last1     = Durech
 | first1    = J.
 | last2     = Kaasalainen
 | first2    = M.
 | last3     = Marciniak
 | first3    = A.
 | display-authors = 1
 | title     = Physical models of ten asteroids from an observers' collaboration network
 | work      = Astronomy and Astrophysics
 | volume    = 465
 | issue     = 1
 | pages     = 331–337
 |date=April 2007
 | doi       = 10.1051/0004-6361:20066347
 | bibcode   = 2007A&A...465..331D
 | postscript= .| doi-access= free
 }}</ref>

<ref name="Hardersen1983">{{Citation
 |last1=Hardersen 
 |first1=Paul S. 
 |last2=Gaffey 
 |first2=Michael J. 
 |last3=Abell 
 |first3=Paul A. 
 |title=Near-IR spectral evidence for the presence of iron-poor orthopyroxenes on the surfaces of six M-type asteroids 
 |work=Icarus 
 |volume=175 
 |issue=1 
 |pages=141–158 
 |date=January 1983 
 |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2004.10.017 
 |bibcode=2005Icar..175..141H 
 |url= 
 |postscript=.}}</ref>

}} <!-- end of reflist -->

== External links ==
* {{AstDys|125}}
* {{JPL small body}}

{{Minor planets navigator |124 Alkeste |number=125 |126 Velleda}}
{{Small Solar System bodies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberatrix}}
[[Category:M-type asteroids (Tholen)|000125]]
[[Category:X-type asteroids (SMASS)|000125]]
[[Category:Liberatrix asteroids|000125]] <!-- Cellino (2002) -->
[[Category:Nemesis asteroids|000125]] <!-- Nesvorny (2014) -->
[[Category:Discoveries by Paul Henry and Prosper Henry]]
[[Category:Named minor planets]]
[[Category:Objects observed by stellar occultation|000125]]
[[Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 1872|18720911]]