916 America is a
minor planet orbiting the
Sun in the
main belt between
Mars and
Jupiter.
It was discovered on 7 August 1915 by the
Russian astronomer
Grigory Nikolaevich Neujmin
Grigory Nikolayevich Neujmin (russian: Григорий Николаевич Неуймин; – 17 December 1946) was a Georgian–Russian astronomer, native of Tbilisi in Georgia, and a discoverer of numerous minor planets as well as 6 period ...
at
Simeis,
Russian Empire.
Originally designated 916
ΣI, it was renamed '916 America' on 24 February 1923 after the Council of Astronomers at
Pulkovo Observatory decided to commemorate "the friendly relations of the astronomical observatories and astronomers". Another possible reason for the name was as a mark of appreciation for the help given during the 1921 Russian famine by the
American Relief Administration
American Relief Administration (ARA) was an American relief mission to Europe and later post-revolutionary Russia after World War I. Herbert Hoover, future president of the United States, was the program director.
The ARA's immediate predeces ...
under the later President
Herbert Hoover.
In 1986, assuming that the asteroid was of S-type and that it had a diameter of 15 km, the rotational period was measured to be 38 hours.
Observations by the
Infrared Astronomical Satellite have since shown that it has a diameter of 33.2±1.3 km, with an
absolute magnitude of 11.20 and an
albedo of 0.053±0.004.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:America
000916
Discoveries by Grigory Neujmin
Named minor planets
19150807