Asteroids with Satellites Database--Johnston's Archive

(3122) Florence

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 30 April 2022

--Orbital and physical data--

(See this page for definitions of quantities; source codes in brackets, see this link for full references; *A, *D, and *E indicate assumed, derived, and estimated values, respectively.)

dynamical type, primary: NEA, Amor (PHA)


orbital data, primary (osculating elements) [JPL] :
semimajor axis a: 1.7691324495 AU
orbital period P: 2.353100752 yr
(= 859.4862821 d)
eccentricity e: 0.4233003677
perihelion distance q: 1.020258033 AU
aphelion distance Q: 2.518006866 AU
inclination i: 22.1507767°
argument of perihelion ω: 27.8469801°
ascending node Ω: 336.0951331°
mean anomaly M: 351.4385166°
perihelion passage TP: 2017 Sep 24.4402154
Epoch: 2017 Sep 04
data arc: 1979-2017 (2661 obs.)
Earth MOID: 0.0443047 AU
Jupiter Tisserand invariant TJ: 3.92


orbital data, secondary:
semimajor axis as: 4.6 km [*E]
separation/primary radius as/rp:2.09 [*E]
separation/Hill radius as/rH:0.012 [*E]
orbital period Ps: 0.3 d [B17c]
eccentricity es: ?
normalized ang. mom. αL: ?


orbital data, tertiary:
semimajor axis as: 9.8 km [*E]
separation/primary radius as/rp:4.45 [*E]
separation/Hill radius as/rH:0.026 [*E]
orbital period Ps: 1.02 ± 0.1 d [B17c]
eccentricity es: ?
normalized ang. mom. αL: ?

other data, system (combined):
absolute mag. H: 14.1 [MPC]
slope parameter G: 0.29 [P12c]
effective diameter dE: 4.40 ± 0.03 km [M11d]
geometric albedo: 0.231 ± 0.049 [M11d]
color index U-B: ?
color index B-V: ?
taxonomic type: S (SMASSII) [JPL]
mass m: 7.9x1013 ± 2x1012 kg [B18n]
density ρ: 2 g/cm3[B18n]
Hill radius rH: 380 km [*E]

other data, primary:
diameter dp: 4.4 ± 0.03 km [M11b]
rotation period RPp: 2.3581 ± 0 h [W16b]
amplitude in mag., rotational ΔM: ?
pole direction Β, λ: ? , ?


other data, secondary:
diameter ds: 0.2 km [B18n]
diameter ratio ds/dp: 0.045 [*D]
component mag. difference ΔM: 6.7 [*D]
rotation period RPs: ?


other data, tertiary:
diameter ds: 0.3 km [B18n]
diameter ratio ds/dp: 0.068 [*D]
component mag. difference ΔM: 5.8 [*D]
rotation period RPs: ?

-- (3122) Florence --discovery and notes:

Primary discovered 1981 Mar 02 from Siding Spring Observatory, New South Wales, Australia by S. J. Bus. Alternate designation(s): 1981 ET3, 1983 CN1. Linked to prediscovery observations from 1979 Mar 09. Permanent number assigned 1984 Oct 09.

Named 1993 Apr 06 for Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) [MPC021955].

Both companions discovered 2017 Aug 29 using radar observations from Goldstone Observatory, California, USA. Announced 2017 Sep 01.

--Links, more technical:

--Links, less technical:

--Links to ADS abstracts:


© 2017-2019, 2022 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 30 April 2022.
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