An estimation of the mass of asteroid 20-Massalia derived from the HIPPARCOS minor planets data

Abstract

The ESA astrometry satellite Hipparcos has observed a set of 48 minor planets between 1989 and 1993. A close encounter between 20-Massalia and 44-Nysa, both planets observed by Hipparcos, enabled us to obtain a value for the mass of 20-Massalia. Due to another close approach with the large asteroid 4-Vesta, the value we obtained (2.42 +/- 0.41 10(-12) M_sun) is closely dependent on the value assigned to the mass of Vesta. Based on data from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite.