Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Joel Hastings Metcalf |
Discovery site | Winchester, Massachusetts |
Discovery date | 9 February 1912 |
Designations | |
(729) Watsonia | |
Pronunciation | /wɒtˈsoʊniə/ [1] |
1912 OD | |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 98.79 yr (36082 d) |
Aphelion | 3.0270 AU (452.83 Gm) |
Perihelion | 2.4917 AU (372.75 Gm) |
2.7594 AU (412.80 Gm) | |
Eccentricity | 0.096988 |
4.58 yr (1674.2 d) | |
223.02° | |
0° 12m 54.108s / day | |
Inclination | 18.042° |
124.388° | |
88.376° | |
Physical characteristics | |
24.575±0.75 km | |
25.230 h (1.0513 d) | |
0.1381±0.009 | |
9.31 | |
729 Watsonia is a rare-type asteroid and namesake of the Watsonia family from the central region of the asteroid belt. It was named after the Canadian-American astronomer James C. Watson. Watsonia occulted the star 54 Leonis (HIP 53417, a 4.3 Magnitude Star) on 2013 Mar 03 at 01:48. [3]
This object is the namesake of the Watsonia family, an Asteroid family of approximately 100 asteroids that share similar spectral properties and orbital elements; hence they may have arisen from the same collisional event. All members have a relatively high orbital inclination. [4]