790 Pretoria is a
minor planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
orbiting the
Sun that was discovered by English astronomer
Harry Edwin Wood
Harry Edwin Wood (3 February 1881 – 27 February 1946) was an English astronomer, director of the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, and discoverer of minor planets.
Wood was born in Manchester, graduating from Manchester University in 1902 w ...
on January 16, 1912. It is a member of the
Cybele group
The Cybele asteroids (also known as the "Cybeles") are a dynamical group of asteroids, named after the asteroid 65 Cybele. Considered by some as the last outpost of an extended asteroid belt, the group consists of just over 2000 members an ...
located beyond the core of the
main belt[ (see Minor planet groups) and named after ]Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
, the capital city of South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
10 μ radiometric data collected from Kitt Peak
Kitt Peak ( ood, Ioligam) is a mountain in the U.S. state of Arizona, and at is the highest point in the Quinlan Mountains. It is the location of the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The radio telescope at the observatory is one of ten dishes co ...
in 1975 gave a diameter estimate of 175 km.[ Photometric measurements of the asteroid made in 2005 at the ]Palmer Divide
Named after Colorado Springs founder William Jackson Palmer, the Palmer Divide is a caprock escarpment style ridge in central Colorado that separates the Arkansas River basin from the South Platte basin. It extends from the Front Range of the Rock ...
Observatory showed a light curve with a period of 10.370 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 ± 0.03 in magnitude.occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
15 stars between 1998 and 2023.
References
External links
Lightcurve plot of 790 Pretoria
Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2009)
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
– Minor Planet Center
*
*
Cybele asteroids
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
P-type asteroids (Tholen)
19120116
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