It was discovered by Prosper Henry on 11 September 1872, from Paris. Some sources give Paul Henry sole credit for its discovery.[5] The asteroid's name is a feminine version of the word "liberator". Henry may have chosen the name to mark the liberation of France from Prussia during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. More specifically, it may honor Adolphe Thiers, the first President of the French Republic, who arranged a loan that enabled the Prussian troops to be removed from France.[5]
In the late 1990s, a network of astronomers worldwide gathered lightcurve data to derive the spin states and shape models of 10 asteroids, including Liberatrix. Liberatrix's lightcurve has a large amplitude of 0.4 in magnitude, indicating an elongated or irregular shape.[4][6]
The spectrum of this asteroid matches a M-type asteroid. It may be the remnant of an asteroid that had undergone differentiation, with orthopyroxene minerals scattered evenly across the surface. There is no indication of hydration.[7]
To date, there have been at least two observed occultations by Liberatrix. Early on 11 December 2014, Liberatrix occulted a 9th magnitude star and will be visible over the majority of Southern California and a swath of Mexico.[citation needed]
^ abcdPravec, P.; et al. (May 2012), "Absolute Magnitudes of Asteroids and a Revision of Asteroid Albedo Estimates from WISE Thermal Observations", Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2012, Proceedings of the conference held May 16–20, 2012 in Niigata, Japan, no. 1667, Bibcode:2012LPICo1667.6089P.
^ abDurech, J.; et al. (April 2007), "Physical models of ten asteroids from an observers' collaboration network", Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 465, no. 1, pp. 331–337, Bibcode:2007A&A...465..331D, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20066347.
^ abSchmadel Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (fifth edition), Springer, 2003. ISBN3-540-00238-3.
^Durech, J.; Kaasalainen, M.; Marciniak, A.; Allen, W. H. et al. "Asteroid brightness and geometry," Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 465, Issue 1, April I 2007, pp. 331-337.
^Hardersen, Paul S.; Gaffey, Michael J.; Abell, Paul A. (January 1983), "Near-IR spectral evidence for the presence of iron-poor orthopyroxenes on the surfaces of six M-type asteroids", Icarus, vol. 175, no. 1, pp. 141–158, Bibcode:2005Icar..175..141H, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.10.017.
