| Minorplanet: | yes |
| Mpc Name: | (171) Ophelia |
| Background: |
|
| 171 Ophelia | |
| Pronounced: | [1] |
| Alt Names: | A877 AB |
| Adjective: | Ophelian |
| Discoverer: | A. Borrelly |
| Discovered: | 13 January 1877 |
| Mp Category: | Main belt (Themis) |
| Semimajor: | 3.1326AU |
| Perihelion: | 2.7175AU |
| Aphelion: | 3.5476abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
| Period: | 5.54 yr (2025.1 d) |
| Inclination: | 2.5461° |
| Eccentricity: | 0.13249 |
| Epoch: | 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) |
| Asc Node: | 100.52° |
| Arg Peri: | 56.849° |
| Mean Anomaly: | 11.164° |
| Mean Motion: | / day |
| Observation Arc: | 122.15 yr (44615 d) |
| Uncertainty: | 0 |
| Mass: | (1.064 ± 0.535/0.351) kg |
| Density: | 1.755 ± 0.883/0.579 g/cm |
| Rotation: | 6.66535abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
| Spectral Type: | C |
| Abs Magnitude: | 8.31 |
171 Ophelia is a large, dark Themistian asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly on 13 January 1877, and named after Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet.[2]
This asteroid is a member of the Themis family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements. It probably has a primitive composition, similar to that of the carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.
A 1979 study of the Algol-like light curve produced by this asteroid concluded that it was possible to model the brightness variation by assuming a binary system with a circular orbit, a period of 13.146 hours, and an inclination of 15° to the line of sight from the Earth. Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Leura Observatory in Leura, Australia during 2006 gave a rotation period of 6.6666 ± 0.0002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.50 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This is in agreement with previous studies.
Ophelia is also the name of a moon of Uranus.