__NOTOC__ Vincenzo Silvano Casulli, usually known as Silvano Casulli (25 August 1944 – 24 July 2018Lutto per la scomparsa del Dr. Silvano Casulli, era cittadino onorario di Cervara di Roma
) was an Italian amateur

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and a

discoverer of minor planets This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 nu ...

at his Vallemare di Borbona Observatory in

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. He is credited by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function T ...

with the discovery of 192

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 ...

s. In 1985 he served on a team involved in using the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

in a study that focused on Transition Comets—UV Search for OH Emissions in Asteroids. He was the first

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers ...

to obtain precise astronometric positions of

minor planets 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 ''mino ...

using a CCD camera. He is a prolific discoverer of asteroids. In 1997, the inner main-belt asteroid and member of the

Flora family The Flora family (''adj. Florian''; ; also known as ''Ariadne family'') is a prominent family of stony asteroids located in the inner region of the asteroid belt. It is one of the largest families with more than 13,000 known members, or approxi ...

, 7132 Casulli, was named by astronomer

Antonio Vagnozzi Antonio Vagnozzi (born 1950) is an amateur Italian astronomer and a discoverer of asteroids. Astronomical career Vagnozzi is credited by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) with the discovery of 46 minor planets during 1993–1999. In 1993, he was I ...

in his honor ().

Discoveries

9121 Stefanovalentini

On 24 February 1998, he discovered

9121 Stefanovalentini 91 may refer to: Years * 91 BC * AD 91 * 1991 * 2091 * etc. Transportation * List of highways numbered * 91 Line, a rail line * Saab 91, an aircraft Other uses * 91 (number) * '' 91:an'', a Swedish comic * ''91'', a 2017 album by Jamie Grace * ...

at the Italian Colleverde Observatory. It is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the

main-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, called ...

, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. Casulli also obtained a

light-curve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular freq ...

from photometric observations and determined a

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

of 11.84 hours for the body's rotation. He named it in honour of

Stefano Valentini.

93061 Barbagallo

Together with Italian astronomer Ermes Colombini and others, he co-discovered the asteroid 93061 Barbagallo on 23 September 2000. The group-discovery is credited to the discovering observatory, Osservatorio San Vittore, Bologna. The asteroid was named after Mariano Barbagallo, an Italian colleague and friend of Colombini.

List of discovered minor planets

References

External links

ASTEROIDE N. 7132
on the naming of asteroid 7132 Casulli, including image of Silvano Casulli
Colleverde di Guidonia
''Gruppo Astrofili Montagna Pistoiese'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Casulli, Vincenzo Silvano 1944 births 2018 deaths People from Putignano 20th-century Italian astronomers Discoverers of asteroids * 21st-century Italian astronomers