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]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | P. G. Comba |
| Discovery site | Prescott Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 October 1996 |
| Designations | |
| (16765) Agnesi | |
Named after | Maria Agnesi (Italian mathematician)[2] |
| 1996 UA | |
| main-belt · Eunomia[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 19.88 yr (7,261 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9139 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.3361 AU |
| 2.6250 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1101 |
| 4.25 yr (1,553 days) | |
| 4.2373° | |
| 0° 13m 54.12s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.266° |
| 17.764° | |
| 314.93° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.84 km (calculated)[3] 4.132±0.247 km[4][5] |
| 7.5458±0.0034 h[6] | |
| 0.21 (assumed)[3] 0.2849±0.0250[4] 0.285±0.025[5] | |
| S[3] | |
| 13.9[1][4] · 13.30±0.00[7] · 13.943±0.004 (R)[6] · 14.39[3] | |
Orbit and classification
editAgnesi 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
editDiameter and albedo
editAccording 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
editA 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 (U=2).[6]
Naming
editThis 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
edit- ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)" (2016-08-01 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (16765) Agnesi". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ a b c d 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. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ a b 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. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ a b c 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 2 May 2016.
- ^ 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. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ a b "16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
External links
edit- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
- 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 AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 16765 Agnesi at the JPL Small-Body Database
