16765 Agnesi
Main-belt asteroid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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
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 2.3â2.9 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 HaleakalaâNEAT/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 â derived from 15 Eunomia, the family's largest member and namesake â 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 (U=2).[6]
Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of Italian Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718â1799), 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]
