asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
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from the outer region of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
, approximately 50 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Joseph Hunaerts in 1936, it was named after Belgian astronomer
Pol Swings
Pol F. Swings (24 September 1906 – 28 October 1983) was a Belgian astrophysicist who was known for his studies of the composition and structure of stars and comets. He used spectroscopy to identify the elements in astronomical bodies, and, ...
.
Discovery
''Swings'' was discovered on 28 August 1936, by Belgian astronomer Joseph Hunaerts at the
Royal Observatory of Belgium
The Royal Observatory of Belgium (french: link=no, Observatoire Royal de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België), has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels (Belgium) since 1890. It was first established in Saint-Josse ...
in Uccle, Belgium. In the following month, it was independently discovered by astronomer Cyril Jackson at
Johannesburg Observatory
Union Observatory also known as Johannesburg Observatory ( 078) is a defunct astronomical observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa that was operated between 1903 and 1971. It is located on Observatory Ridge, the city's highest point at 1,808 met ...