Many objects
Millions of objects moving in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter are monitored and introduced into catalogs on a daily basis. The asteroid belt is an area that is between 1.8 and 4 astronomical units away from the Sun. To date, 750,000 asteroids larger than 1 kilometer in diameter have been registered in the area. Due to the strong gravitational influence of Jupiter, the creation of a planet in that area is not possible. The most famous objects in the asteroid belt are Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea. The latter is also the smallest asteroid among the known ones. Hygiea is a major member of the Type C asteroid group and is approximately 2.82 astronomical units away from the Sun.
Size asteroid
The diameter of this asteroid is approximately 444 kilometers, and it rotates around its axis in 27 hours and 37 minutes. This is much longer than the rotation of other asteroids that rotate in a time of 6 to 12 hours. Hygiea has a medium density that is much lower than the average of most asteroids. Hygiea is considered to be an iceberg rather than a stone or rocky object. Finding a Hygiea asteroid is not easy at all. Although relatively large, it is difficult to spot this asteroid from Earth. Hygiea has a dark surface, and when it is best seen – it is four times weaker than when we observe the asteroid Vesta in a similar position. When best seen the Hygiea asteroid has a +10.2 apparent magnitude. This is one of the darkest asteroids, and only Thetis and Egeria asteroids are darker than Hygiea.
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