740 Cantabia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered on 10 February 1913 at Winchester, Massachusetts by American amateur astronomer J. H. Metcalf. Cantabia is a contraction of Cantabrigia, Latin for Cambridge, named in honor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is orbiting at a distance of 3.05 AU with a period of 5.33 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.11.[2] Between 2014 and 2021, 740 Cantabia has been observed to occult three stars.[citation needed]

740 Cantabia
Discovery
Discovered byJoel Hastings Metcalf
Discovery siteWinchester, Massachusetts
Discovery date10 February 1913
Designations
(740) Cantabia
Pronunciation/kænˈtbiə/[1]
1913 QS
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc103.10 yr (37,659 d)
Aphelion3.3892 AU (507.02 Gm)
Perihelion2.7145 AU (406.08 Gm)
3.0519 AU (456.56 Gm)
Eccentricity0.11053
5.33 yr (1,947.4 d)
133.938°
0° 11m 5.532s / day
Inclination10.846°
116.099°
47.844°
Physical characteristics
45.45±0.85 km
64.453 h (2.6855 d)
0.0552±0.002
9.1

This asteroid shows an exceptionally slow rate of spin. Photometry observations from two independent teams during 2009 were combined to generate a light curve showing a rotation period of 64.453 hours (2.69 days) with a brightness variation of 0.16±0.03 in magnitude.[3] The spectrum is classified as type CX in the Tholen taxonomy.[4] It spans a girth estimated at ~91 km.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Per 'Cantabria' in Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ a b c "740 Cantabia (1913 QS)". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  3. ^ Stephens, Robert D.; et al. (January 2010), "Lightcurve Analysis of 740 Cantabia", Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, 37 (1): 17, Bibcode:2010MPBu...37...17S.
  4. ^ Lazzaro, D.; et al. (November 2004), "S3OS2: the visible spectroscopic survey of 820 asteroids", Icarus, 172 (1): 179–220, Bibcode:2004Icar..172..179L, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.06.006.
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