Silesia (
minor planet designation
A formal minor-planet designation is, in its final form, a number–name combination given to a minor planet (asteroid, centaur, trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet but not comet). Such designation always features a leading number (catalog or ...
: 257 Silesia) is a large
Main belt 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.
...
, about 73 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by
Johann Palisa
Johann Palisa (6 December 1848 – 2 May 1925) was an Austrian astronomer, born in Troppau, Austrian Silesia, now Czech Republic. He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 122 in all, from 136 Austria in 1874 to 1073 Gel ...
on 5 April 1886 at
Vienna Observatory, Austria.
It is named after
Silesia, the province of the discoverer's birthplace (nowadays most of Silesia is in Poland, but Palisa's birthplace is in the small part of Silesia that is in the Czech Republic).
References
External links
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000257
Discoveries by Johann Palisa
Named minor planets
000257
000257
18860405
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