Fides (
minor planet designation: 37 Fides) is a large
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 ...
asteroid. It was discovered by German astronomer
Karl Theodor Robert Luther
Karl Theodor Robert Luther (April 16, 1822, Świdnica – February 15, 1900 Düsseldorf), normally published as Robert Luther, was a German astronomer. While working at the Bilk Observatory in Düsseldorf, Germany, he searched for asteroids and ...
on October 5, 1855,
and named after
Fides, the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
goddess of
loyalty. Fides was the last of the main-belt asteroids to be assigned an
iconic symbol.
37 Fides is also a S-type asteroid in the
Tholen classification
An asteroid spectral type is assigned to asteroids based on their emission spectrum, color, and sometimes albedo. These types are thought to correspond to an asteroid's surface composition. For small bodies that are not internally differentiated ...
system.
observations of this asteroid at multiple observatories during 1981–82 gave an unusual
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 frequ ...
with three minima and maxima. The curve changed with varying
phase angle of the asteroid relative to the viewer and the position of the Sun, indicating the changing influence of shadows cast by surface features. The composite light curve has a best fit period estimate of 7.33 hours.
Austrian astronomer Hans Josef Schober has suggested that the multiple minima and maxima during each period may be an indication of a binary nature.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:000037
Background asteroids
Fides
Fides
S-type asteroids (Tholen)
S-type asteroids (SMASS)
18551005
vec:Lista de asteroidi#37 Fides