943 Begonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
_Begonia.png) Modelled shape of Begonia from its lightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 20 October 1920 |
| Designations | |
| (943) Begonia | |
| Pronunciation | /bɪˈɡoʊniə/ |
Named after | Begonia[2] (genus of flowers) |
| A920 UA · 1944 DM 1947 RC · 1977 FU 1920 HX | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (outer) background[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 99.21 yr (36,237 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.7814 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.4517 AU |
| 3.1166 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2133 |
| 5.50 yr (2,010 d) | |
| 310.58° | |
| 0° 10m 44.76s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.108° |
| 113.77° | |
| 4.1314° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 15.660±0.001 h[9][10] | |
| 9.8[1][3] | |
943 Begonia /bɪˈɡoʊniə/ is a large, carbonaceous background asteroid, approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) in diameter, from the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory on 20 October 1920 and given the provisional designations A920 UA and 1920 HX.[1] The dark C-type asteroid (Ch) has a rotation period of 15.7 hours. It was named after the genus of popular houseplants, Begonia.[2]
Begonia 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] It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.5–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,010 days; semi-major axis of 3.12 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg Observatory on 21 October 1920, the night after its official discovery observation.[1]
Naming
This minor planet was named after the genus of tropical herbs, Begonia. These flowering plants belongs to the Begoniaceae family and are popular houseplants, widely cultivated as ornamentals. The naming was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 91).[2] Only a minority of minor planets are named after plants.
Reinmuth's flowers
Due to his many discoveries, Karl Reinmuth submitted a large list of 66 newly named asteroids in the early 1930s. The list covered his discoveries with numbers between (1009) and (1200). This list also contained a sequence of 28 asteroids, that were all named after plants, in particular flowering plants (also see list of minor planets named after animals and plants).[13]
