1421 Esperanto, provisional designation , is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the

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 18 March 1936, by Finnish astronomer

Yrjö Väisälä Yrjö Väisälä (; 6 September 1891 – 21 July 1971) was a Finnish astronomer and physicist. His main contributions were in the field of optics. He was also active in geodetics, astronomy and optical metrology. He had an affectionate ni ...

at the

Iso-Heikkilä Observatory Iso-Heikkilä Observatory ( fi, Iso-Heikkilän tähtitorni, sv, Storheikkilä observatorium) is an amateur astronomical observatory used by a local amateur astronomical association, Turun Ursa ry in the Iso-Heikkilä district of Turku, Finl ...

in Turku, southwest Finland. The presumed

C-type asteroid C-type (carbonaceous) asteroids are the most common variety, forming around 75% of known asteroids. They are volatile-rich and distinguished by a very low albedo because their composition includes a large amount of carbon, in addition to rocks ...

has a rotation period of nearly 22 hours. It was named for the artificial language Esperanto.

Orbit and classification

''Esperanto'' has been determined a non-

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 ...

asteroid from the main belt's background population by means of modern HCM-analysis, after it had previously been grouped to the

Eos family The Eos family (''adj. Eoan'' ; ) is a very large asteroid family located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. The family of K-type asteroids is believed to have formed as a result of an ancient catastrophic collision. The family's parent body ...

by Zappalà in the 1990s. It orbits the Sun in the

outer {{Short pages monitor

External links

Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
query form

)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books

– Minor Planet Center * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esperanto Background asteroids, 001421 Discoveries by Yrjö Väisälä Named minor planets Astronomical objects discovered in 1936, 19360318