Astronomy:16765 Agnesi

From HandWiki
16765 Agnesi
Discovery[1]
Discovered byP. G. Comba
Discovery sitePrescott Obs.
Discovery date16 October 1996
Designations
(16765) Agnesi
Named afterMaria Agnesi
(Italian mathematician)[2]
1996 UA
Minor planet categorymain-belt · Eunomia[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc19.88 yr (7,261 days)
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.9139 AU
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.3361 AU
2.6250 AU
Eccentricity0.1101
Orbital period4.25 yr (1,553 days)
Mean anomaly4.2373°
Mean motion0° 13m 54.12s / day
Inclination12.266°
Longitude of ascending node17.764°
314.93°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions3.84 km (calculated)[3]
4.132±0.247 km[4][5]
Rotation period7.5458±0.0034 h[6]
Geometric albedo0.21 (assumed)[3]
0.2849±0.0250[4]
0.285±0.025[5]
S[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)13.9[1][4] · 13.30±0.00[7] · 13.943±0.004 (R)[6] · 14.39[3]


16765 Agnesi (provisional designation 1996 UA) is a stony Eunomia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1996, by Italian-American amateur astronomer Paul Comba at his private Prescott Observatory in Arizona, United States.[8] The asteroid was named after Italian mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi.[2]

Orbit and classification

Agnesi is a member of the Eunomia family, a large group of S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the central main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,553 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] It was first observed by Haleakala–NEAT/GEODSS (566), extending the asteroid's observation arc by 32 days prior to its official discovery observation.[8]

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Agnesi measures 4.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.28,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 – derived from 15 Eunomia, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 3.8 kilometers.[3]

Lightcurves

A rotational lightcurve of Agnesi was obtained from photometric observations taken by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in September 2013. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 7.5458 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 magnitude ({{{1}}}).[6]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Italian Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799), who was the first Western woman to write a widely translated mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed to a professorship at a university in 1750.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 9 January 2001 (M.P.C. 41941).[9]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2016765. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(16765) Agnesi". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (16765) Agnesi. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 840. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_9340. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "LCDB Data for (16765) Agnesi". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/generateOneAsteroidInfo.php?AstInfo=16765%7CAgnesi. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D. et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal 741 (2): 25. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Bibcode2011ApJ...741...90M. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2011ApJ...741...90M. Retrieved 2 May 2016. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J. et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal 741 (2): 20. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Bibcode2011ApJ...741...68M. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2011ApJ...741...68M. Retrieved 3 December 2016. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 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. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Bibcode2015AJ....150...75W. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2015AJ....150...75W. Retrieved 2 May 2016. 
  7. Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus 261: 34–47. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Bibcode2015Icar..261...34V. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2015Icar..261...34V. Retrieved 2 May 2016. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)". Minor Planet Center. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=16765. 
  9. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html. 

External links