516 Amherstia was the 8th asteroid discovered by Raymond Smith Dugan, and was named after Amherst College, his alma mater. Amherstia is a large M-typemain belt asteroid, with an estimated diameter of 73 km. It follows an eccentric orbit between Jupiter and Mars, with an orbital period of 4.39 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 13° to the ecliptic.
In 1989, the asteroid was observed from the Collurania-Teramo Observatory, allowing a light curve to be produced that showed an estimated rotation period of 7.49 hours and a brightness variation of 0.25 ± 0.01 in magnitude.[6] On January 14, 2002, Amherstia was observed to occult the seventh-magnitude star SAO 60107 from ten sites in Florida. The measured timing chords were used to estimate a cross-section diameter of 41.9±3.3 km with a generally circular profile.[3] The near infrared spectra of Amherstia suggests a surface consisting of a single mafic silicate with iron–nickel alloy. The infrared albedo is 16%.[7]
^ abBookamer, R.; Povenmire, H.; Povenmire, K. I. (March 2003), "The Occultation of SAO 60107 by (516) Amherstia on Jan. 14, 2002", 34th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 17–21, 2003, League City, Texas, Bibcode:2003LPI....34.1203B, 1203.
^Dotto, E.; et al. (June 1992), "M-type asteroids - Rotational properties of 16 objects", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, 95 (2): 195–211, Bibcode:1992A&AS...95..195D.
^Hardersen, Paul S.; Gaffey, M. J.; Abell, P. A. (September 2006), "Near-infrared Reflectance Spectra Of 135 Hertha, 224 Oceana, 516 Amherstia, And 872 Holda", Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 38: 626, Bibcode:2006DPS....38.7103H.
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