764 Gedania
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| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | F. Kaiser |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 26 September 1913 |
| Designations | |
| (764) Gedania | |
| Pronunciation | /ɡɪˈdeɪniə/ |
Named after | City of Gdańsk[2] |
| A913 SF · A902 WD A908 YE · A918 TA 1913 SU | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 117.43 yr (42,893 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.5027 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.9000 AU |
| 3.2013 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0941 |
| 5.73 yr (2,092 d) | |
| 242.58° | |
| 0° 10m 19.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 10.018° |
| 258.94° | |
| 156.65° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 24.9751±0.0007 h[10] | |
764 Gedania (prov. designation: A913 SF or 1913 SU) is a large background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 26 September 1913, by German astronomer Franz Kaiser at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany.[1] The carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 24.98 hours. It was named after the Polish city of Gdańsk where the discoverer was an assistant at the observatory during the 1920s.[2]
Gedania is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.[4][5][6] It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.9–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,092 days; semi-major axis of 3.2 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as A902 WD at Heidelberg Observatory in November 1902, almost 11 years prior to its official discovery observation by Franz Kaiser.[1]
Naming
This minor planet was named after the Latin name of the city of Gdańsk, Poland (formerly Free City of Danzig) where the discoverer, Franz Kaiser (1891–1962), was an assistant at the observatory during the early 1920s. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 77). Asteroid 1419 Danzig was also named by its German name for the city of Gdańsk.[2]
