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16765 Agnesi (provisional designation 1996 UA) is a stony Eunomia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1996, by Italian-American amateur astronomer Paul Comba at his private Prescott Observatory in Arizona, United States. The asteroid was named after Italian mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi.

Orbit and classification

Agnesi is a member of the Eunomia family, a large group of S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the central main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,553 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first observed by Haleakala–NEAT/GEODSS (566), extending the asteroid's observation arc by 32 days prior to its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Agnesi measures 4.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.28, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 – derived from 15 Eunomia, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 3.8 kilometers.

Lightcurves

A rotational lightcurve of Agnesi was obtained from photometric observations taken by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in September 2013. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 7.5458 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 magnitude (U=2).

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Italian Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799), who was the first Western woman to write a widely translated mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed to a professorship at a university in 1750. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 9 January 2001 (M.P.C. 41941).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)" (2016-08-01 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(16765) Agnesi". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (16765) Agnesi. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 840. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_9340. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. ^ "LCDB Data for (16765) Agnesi". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 2 May 2016.
4. ^ Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
5. ^ Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
6. ^ Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
7. Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
8. ^ "16765 Agnesi (1996 UA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
9. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2 May 2016.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (15001)-(20000) – Minor Planet Center
• 16765 Agnesi at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 16765 Agnesi at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Eunomia asteroids
• Discoveries by Paul G. Comba
• Named minor planets
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1996