144 Vibilia
Encyclopedia
144 Vibilia is a large, dark main belt
asteroid
. It probably has a primitive carbonaceous
composition. It is the only large member of the Vibilia asteroid family.
It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters
on June 3, 1875, from the observatory at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
. Peters named it after Vibilia, the Roman
goddess of travelling, because he had recently returned from a journey across the world to observe the transit of Venus
. Peters also discovered 145 Adeona
on the same night.
Vibilia has been observed to occult
a star
twice so far (in 1993 and again in 2001).
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
asteroid
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 probably has a primitive carbonaceous
Carbonaceous
Carbonaceous is the defining attribute of a substance rich in carbon. Particularly, carbonaceous hydrocarbons are very unsaturated, high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons, having an elevated carbon:hydrogen ratio....
composition. It is the only large member of the Vibilia asteroid family.
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 June 3, 1875, from the observatory at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
Clinton, Oneida County, New York
Clinton is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It was named for George Clinton, a royal governor of the colony of New York....
. Peters named it after Vibilia, 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 travelling, because he had recently returned from a journey across the world to observe the transit of Venus
Transit of Venus
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
. Peters also discovered 145 Adeona
145 Adeona
145 Adeona is a rather large main-belt asteroid. Its surface is very dark, and probably composed of primitive carbonaceous material. The Adeona family of asteroids is named after it....
on the same night.
Vibilia has been observed to occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
a star
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...
twice so far (in 1993 and again in 2001).
External links
- Orbital simulation from JPL (Java)
- Ephemeris