330 Adalberta (
''prov. designation'': ) is a stony
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.
...
from the inner regions of the
asteroid belt, approximately 9.5 kilometers in diameter. It is likely named for either Adalbert Merx or
Adalbert Krüger
Karl Nikolaus Adalbert Krueger (9 December 1832 – 21 April 1896) was a German astronomer. Born in Marienburg, Prussia (now Malbork, Poland), he was editor of '' Astronomische Nachrichten ''from 1881 until his death.
Krueger died of a heart con ...
. It was discovered by
Max Wolf
Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (21 June 1863 – 3 October 1932) was a German astronomer and a pioneer in the field of astrophotography. He was the chairman of astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg-Kà ...
in 1910. In the 1980s, the asteroid's permanent
designation
Designation may refer to:
* Designation (law), the process of determining an incumbent's successor
* Professional certification
* Designation (landmarks), an official classification determined by a government agency or historical society
* Designa ...
was reassigned from the non-existent object .
Discovery
''Adalberta'' was discovered on 2 February 1910, by German astronomer
Max Wolf
Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (21 June 1863 – 3 October 1932) was a German astronomer and a pioneer in the field of astrophotography. He was the chairman of astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg-Kà ...
at
Heidelberg Observatory
Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students.
...
in southern Germany.
Previously, on 18 March 1892, another body discovered by Max Wolf with the
provisional designation
Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...
was originally designated , but was subsequently lost and never recovered ''(also see
Lost minor planet)''. In 1982, it was determined that Wolf erroneously measured two images of stars, not asteroids. As it was a false positive and the body never existed, the name ''Adalberta'' and number "330" was then reused for this asteroid, .
MPC citation was published on 6 June 1982 ().
Orbit and classification
The
S-type asteroid orbits the Sun in the
inner
Interior may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas
* ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck
* ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See
* Interior de ...
main-belt at a distance of 1.8–3.1
AU once every 3 years and 11 months (1,416 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.25 and an
inclination of 7
° with respect to the
ecliptic.
''Adalberta''s
observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1910.
Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of the discoverer's father-in-law, Adalbert Merx (after whom another minor planet
808 Merxia
808 Merxia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It forms the namesake for the Merxia family of asteroids that share common orbital elements and physical properties.
The spectrum of this object indicates that it is an S-type asteroid with both lo ...
is also named). However it is also possible that it was named for
Adalbert Krüger
Karl Nikolaus Adalbert Krueger (9 December 1832 – 21 April 1896) was a German astronomer. Born in Marienburg, Prussia (now Malbork, Poland), he was editor of '' Astronomische Nachrichten ''from 1881 until his death.
Krueger died of a heart con ...
(1832–1896), a German astronomer and editor of the ''
Astronomische Nachrichten
''Astronomische Nachrichten'' (''Astronomical Notes''), one of the first international journals in the field of astronomy, was established in 1821 by the German astronomer Heinrich Christian Schumacher. It claims to be the oldest astronomical jour ...
'', which was one of the first international journals in the field of astronomy.
The naming citation was first mentioned in ''
The Names of the Minor Planets'' by
Paul Herget in 1955 ().
Physical characteristics
Rotation period
In 2013, a rotational
lightcurve of ''Adalberta'' was obtained from
photometric observations at Los Algarrobos Observatory in Uruguay. Light-curve analysis gave a well-defined
rotation period
The rotation period of a celestial object (e.g., star, gas giant, planet, moon, asteroid) may refer to its sidereal rotation period, i.e. the time that the object takes to complete a single revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the ...
of hours with a brightness variation of 0.44
magnitude ().
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by NASA's
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent
NEOWISE mission, ''Adalberta'' measures 9.11 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an
albedo of 0.256,
while the ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 9.84 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 12.4.
Notes
References
External links
Lightcurve Database Query(LCDB), at ''www.minorplanet.info''
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
– Minor Planet Center
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000330
Discoveries by Max Wolf
Named minor planets
19100202
Recovered astronomical objects