Categories
  • Named minor planets
  • STGD-type asteroids (Tholen)
  • L-type asteroids (SMASS)
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    729 Watsonia

    Topic: Astronomy

     From Handwiki - Reading time: 2 min
    729 Watsonia
    Discovery
    Discovered byJoel Hastings Metcalf
    Discovery siteWinchester, Massachusetts
    Discovery date9 February 1912
    Designations
    (729) Watsonia
    Pronunciation/wɒtˈsoʊniə/[1]
    1912 OD
    Orbital characteristics[2]
    Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
    Uncertainty parameter 0
    Observation arc98.79 yr (36082 d)
    |{{{apsis}}}|helion}}3.0270 astronomical unit|AU (452.83 Gm)
    |{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.4917 AU (372.75 Gm)
    2.7594 AU (412.80 Gm)
    Eccentricity0.096988
    Orbital period4.58 yr (1674.2 d)
    Mean anomaly223.02°
    Mean motion0° 12m 54.108s / day
    Inclination18.042°
    Longitude of ascending node124.388°
    88.376°
    Physical characteristics
    Mean radius24.575±0.75 km
    Rotation period25.230 h (1.0513 d)
    Geometric albedo0.1381±0.009
    Absolute magnitude (H)9.31


    729 Watsonia is a rare-type asteroid and namesake of the Watsonia family from the central region of the asteroid belt. It was named after the Canadian-American astronomer James C. Watson. Watsonia occulted the star 54 Leonis (HIP 53417, a 4.3 Magnitude Star) on 2013 Mar 03 at 01:48.[3]

    Description

    This object is the namesake of the Watsonia family, an Asteroid family of approximately 100 asteroids that share similar spectral properties and orbital elements; hence they may have arisen from the same collisional event. All members have a relatively high orbital inclination.[4]

    References

    1. ↑ watsonia (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, September 2005, http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=watsonia  (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
    2. ↑ Yeomans, Donald K., "729 Watsonia", JPL Small-Body Database Browser (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=729, retrieved 5 May 2016. 
    3. ↑ Pier Paolo Ricci (29 November 2012), Almanacco astronomico 2013 Astronomical almanac 2013, Lulu.com, pp. 322–, ISBN 978-1-291-21157-3, https://books.google.com/books?id=xG0CBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA322 
    4. ↑ Novaković, Bojan et al. (November 2011), "Families among high-inclination asteroids", Icarus 216 (1): pp. 69–81, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.08.016, Bibcode: 2011Icar..216...69N. 

    External links




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