| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Joel Hastings Metcalf |
| Discovery site | Winchester, Massachusetts |
| Discovery date | 9 February 1912 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | (729) Watsonia |
| Pronunciation | /wɒtˈsoʊniə/[1] |
| 1912 OD | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 98.79 yr (36082 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.0270 AU (452.83 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.4917 AU (372.75 Gm) |
Semi-major axis | 2.7594 AU (412.80 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.096988 |
| 4.58 yr (1674.2 d) | |
| 223.02° | |
| 0° 12m 54.108s / day | |
| Inclination | 18.042° |
| 124.388° | |
| 88.376° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 24.575±0.75 km |
| 25.230 h (1.0513 d) | |
| 0.1381±0.009 | |
| 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
- ^ "watsonia". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Yeomans, Donald K., "729 Watsonia", JPL Small-Body Database Browser, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ^ Pier Paolo Ricci (29 November 2012), Almanacco astronomico 2013 Astronomical almanac 2013, Lulu.com, pp. 322–, ISBN 978-1-291-21157-3
- ^ Novaković, Bojan; et al. (November 2011), "Families among high-inclination asteroids", Icarus, 216 (1), pp. 69–81, arXiv:1108.3740, Bibcode:2011Icar..216...69N, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.08.016.
External links
- 729 Watsonia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 729 Watsonia at the JPL Small-Body Database
