3908 Nyx

3908 Nyx
Discovery
Discovered by	Hans-Emil Schuster
Discovery date	6 August 1980
Designations
MPC designation	(3908) Nyx
Pronunciation	/ˈnɪks/"Nyx". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/Nyx.
Named after	Nyx
Alternative designations	1980 PA; 1988 XB1
Minor planet category	Amor; Mars-crosser
Adjectives	Nyctian
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 27 July 2005 (JD 2453578.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	13021 days (35.65 yr)
\|{{{apsis}}}\|helion}}	2.81198 astronomical unit\|AU (420.666 Gm)
\|{{{apsis}}}\|helion}}	1.04239 AU (155.939 Gm)
Semi-major axis	1.92719 AU (288.304 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.45911
Orbital period	2.68 yr (977.20 d)
Mean anomaly	99.7699°
Mean motion	0° 22m 6.236s / day
Inclination	2.17667°
Longitude of ascending node	261.688°
\|{{{apsis}}}\|helion}}	125.978°
Earth MOID	0.0563399 AU (8.42833 Gm)
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	0.5 ± 0.075 km
Rotation period	4.42601 h (0.184417 d)
Geometric albedo	0.23
Spectral type	V
Absolute magnitude (H)	17.3

Short description: Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid

3908 Nyx is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster on August 6, 1980, and is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, after which Pluto's moon Nix is also named. It is 1–2 km in diameter and is a V-type asteroid, meaning that it may be a fragment of the asteroid 4 Vesta.

Observations

In 2000, radar observations conducted at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories produced a model of Nyx's shape; the asteroid can best be described as spherical but with many protruding lumps.