Roma (

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 ...

: 472 Roma) is an

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. ...

. It was discovered by

Luigi Carnera Luigi Carnera (born in Trieste April 14, 1875, died in Florence, July 30, 1962) was an Italian astronomer and mathematician. He discovered 16 minor planets in the early 20th century. The main-belt asteroid 39653 Carnera was named in his h ...

on July 11, 1901. Its provisional name was 1901 GP. This asteroid was named by

Antonio Abetti Antonio Abetti (19 June 1846 – 20 February 1928) was an Italian astronomer. Born in San Pietro di Gorizia ( Šempeter-Vrtojba), he earned a degree in mathematics and engineering at the University of Padua. He was married to Giovanna Colbac ...

for the city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, the native country of its discoverer. At 21:57 UT, on Thursday, July 8, 2010, this 50 km wide asteroid occulted the star

Delta Ophiuchi Delta Ophiuchi (δ Ophiuchi, abbreviated Delta Oph, δ Oph), formally named Yed Prior , is a star in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It forms a naked-eye optical double with Epsilon Ophiuchi (named ''Yed Posterior''). The apparent visual ...

in an event lasting about five seconds. The occultation path crossed central Europe along a band that ran through Stockholm, Copenhagen, Bremen, Nantes and Bilbao. This is a member of the dynamic

Maria family The Maria family (adj. ''Marian''; FIN: 506; also known as ''Roma family'') is a collisional asteroid family located in the inner parts of the intermediate asteroid belt, near the 1:3 Kirkwood gap. The family consist of several thousand stony S-ty ...

of asteroids that were probably formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body.

References

External links

* * Maria asteroids

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

S-type asteroids (Tholen) 19010711 {{Beltasteroid-stub