51 Nemausa
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| Orbital characteristics 1 (ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html) | |
|---|---|
| Orbit type | Main belt |
| Semimajor axis | 2.365 AU |
| Perihelion distance | 2.207 AU |
| Aphelion distance | 2.523 AU |
| Orbital period | 3.64 years |
| Inclination | 9.97° |
| Eccentricity | 0.067 |
| Physical characteristics 1 (ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html) | |
| Diameter | 147.9 km |
| Rotation period 3 (http://charlie.psi.edu/pds/) | 7.783 hours |
| Spectral class | G |
| Abs. magnitude | 7.35 |
| Albedo 4 (http://dorothy.as.arizona.edu/DSN/IRAS/index_iras.html) | 0.093 |
| History 2 (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html) | |
| Discoverer | A. Laurent, 1858 |
51 Nemausa (ne-mawz'-a) is a large Main belt asteroid similar to 1 Ceres in composition.
It was discovered in the city of Nīmes, France, after which it was named (in its Latin name). The discoverer was a certain "A. Laurent" who never made any more asteroid discoveries and about whom not much seems to be known.
The asteroid was discovered using the private observatory at the house formerly occupied by Benjamin Valz, who left to become the new director of the Marseille Observatory. He entrusted his former observatory to A. Laurent, who later found the asteroid. The house, at 32 rue Nationale in Nīmes, has a plaque commemorating the discovery. [1] (http://www.netnimes.com/centre_ville_8.htm)
A small satellite has been suggested based on lightcurve data. [2] (http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/asteroidmoonsq.html)
| The minor planets |
| Vulcanoids | Main belt | Groups and families | Near-Earth objects | Jupiter Trojans |
| Centaurs | Trans-Neptunians | Damocloids | Comets | Kuiper belt | Oort cloud |
| (For other objects and regions, see: Binary asteroids, Asteroid moons and the Solar system) |
| (For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. For pronunciation, see: Pronunciation of asteroid names.) |