348 May is a large Main beltasteroid.[2] It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 28 November 1892 in Nice, and was named for the German author Karl May.[4] This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.97 AU with a period of 5.12 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.067. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 9.7° to the plane of the ecliptic.[2] During its orbit, this asteroid has made close approaches to the dwarf planetCeres. For example, in September 1984 the two were separated by 6.3 Gm (0.042 AU).[5]
Analysis of the asteroid light curve generated from photometric data collected during 2007 provided a rotation period of 7.385±0.004 h with a brightness variation of 0.16±0.03 in magnitude. This is consistent with an estimate from a 2006 study.[6] It is classified as a G-type asteroid[5] and spans a diameter of approximately 83 km.[2]
References
^Schmadel, L. (2003:44). Dictionary of minor planet names. Germany: Springer.
^ abBaer, James J.; Chesley, S. R. (July 2007), "Astrometric Masses of 21 Asteroids, and an Integrated Asteroid Ephemeris", American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #38, Bibcode:2007DDA....38.0903B, 9.03.
^ abSitarski, G.; Todorovic-Juchniewicz, B. (April 1992), "Determination of the Mass of (1) Ceres from Perturbations on (203) Pompeja and (348) May", Acta Astronomica, 42: 139–144, Bibcode:1992AcA....42..139S.
^Sauppe, Jason; et al. (December 2007), "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Oakley Observatory - March/April 2007", Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, 34 (4): 119–122, Bibcode:2007MPBu...34..119S.
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