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, c ...
, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 23 September 1913, by American astronomer
Joel Hastings Metcalf
Joel Hastings Metcalf (January 4, 1866 – February 23, 1925) was an American astronomer, humanitarian and minister.
Reverend Metcalf graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1892. He served as a Unitarian minister in Burlington, Vermont and i ...
at his observatory in Winchester, Massachusetts. The
B-type asteroid
B-type asteroids are a relatively uncommon type of carbonaceous asteroid, falling into the wider C-group; the 'B' indicates these objects are spectrally blue. In the asteroid population, B-class objects can be found in the outer asteroid belt, ...
George Phillips Bond
George Phillips Bond (May 20, 1825February 17, 1865) was an American astronomer. He was the son of William Cranch Bond. Some sources give his year of birth as 1826.
His early interest was in nature and birds, but after his elder brother Willia ...
(1825–1865), both American astronomers and directors of the
Harvard College Observatory
The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United St ...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Orbit and classification
''Bondia'' is a core member the
Themis family The Themis family (''adj. Themistian''; ) is a family of carbonaceous asteroids located in the outer portion of the asteroid belt, at a mean distance of 3.13 AU from the Sun. It is one of the largest families with over 4700 known members, and con ...
(), a very large
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of carbonaceous asteroids, named after 24 Themis. It orbits the Sun in the