16765 Agnesi
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | P. G. Comba |
| Discovery site | Prescott Observatory |
| Discovery date | 16 October 1996 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 16765 Agnesi |
Named after |
Maria Agnesi (mathematician)[2] |
| 1996 UA | |
| main-belt · Eunomia [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 19.25 yr (7,032 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9142 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.3401 AU |
| 2.6271 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1092 |
| 4.26 yr (1,555 days) | |
| 179.48° | |
| Inclination | 12.256° |
| 17.787° | |
| 314.33° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.84 km (calculated)[3] |
| 7.5458±0.0034 h[4] | |
| 0.21 (assumed)[3] | |
| S [3] | |
| 13.8[1] | |
|
| |
16765 Agnesi, provisional designation 1996 UA, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, about 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1996, by Italian-American amateur astronomer Paul Comba at his private Prescott Observatory in the U.S. state of Arizona.[5]
The asteroid is a member of the Eunomia family, a large group of S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,555 days). Its orbit is tilted by 12 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic and shows an eccentricity of 0.11.[1] A photometric light-curve analysis at the Palomar Transient Factory Survey in 2013 has rendered a rotation period of 7.5458±0.0034 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.31 in magnitude.[4] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 for the asteroid's surface, identical the to albedo of the family's namesake, 15 Eunomia.[3]
The minor planet was named in honour of Italian Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799), who was the first woman in the Western world to write a widely translated mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed to a professorship at a university in 1750.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)" (2015-12-16 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved January 2016.
- 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (16765) Agnesi. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 840. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved January 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "LCDB Data for (16765) Agnesi". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved January 2016.
- 1 2 Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved January 2016.
- ↑ "16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved January 2016.
External links
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (15001)-(20000) – Minor Planet Center
- 16765 Agnesi at the JPL Small-Body Database
| ||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||