44181

44181 is a designation that appears in various contexts, primarily within the fields of astronomy and space exploration. It is most notably associated with the asteroid **44181 Euphrosyne**, a large main-belt asteroid discovered on October 17, 1986, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker and her husband, Eugene Shoemaker, using the Palomar Observatory’s 1.2-meter Schmidt telescope.

Euphrosyne is classified as a member of the **Euphrosyne family**, a group of asteroids with similar orbits and compositions. This family is notable for its relatively low albedo, suggesting that its members may be composed of primitive carbonaceous materials. The asteroid has an estimated diameter of approximately 217 kilometers, making it one of the larger objects in the main asteroid belt. Its orbit is relatively distant from the Sun, with a semi-major axis of about 3.14 astronomical units (AU), and it takes roughly 5.5 years to complete one revolution around the Sun.

Beyond astronomy, the number 44181 has appeared in other contexts, such as numbering systems for spacecraft or scientific instruments, though no widely recognized significance exists outside of its association with Euphrosyne. The asteroid has been studied to better understand the composition and dynamics of the outer main asteroid belt, contributing to broader research on the formation and evolution of the solar system.