109 Felicitas
Encyclopedia
109 Felicitas is a dark and fairly large main-belt asteroid
. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters
on October 9, 1869, and named after Felicitas
, the Roman
goddess of success. The only observed stellar
occultation
by Felicitas is one from Japan
(March 29, 2003).
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters
Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters was a German-American astronomer, and one of the first to discover asteroids....
on October 9, 1869, and named after Felicitas
Felicitas
In Roman mythology, Felicitas was the goddess or personification of good luck and success. She played an important role in Rome's state religion during the empire, and was frequently portrayed on coins...
, the Roman
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
goddess of success. The only observed stellar
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
occultation
Occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The word is used in astronomy . It can also refer to any situation wherein an object in the foreground blocks from view an object in the background...
by Felicitas is one from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(March 29, 2003).