251 Sophia
Encyclopedia
251 Sophia is a main belt
asteroid
.
It was discovered by Johann Palisa
on October 4, 1885 in Vienna
and was named after Sophia, wife of astronomer
Hugo von Seeliger
.
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 was discovered by Johann Palisa
Johann Palisa
Johann Palisa was an Austrian astronomer, born in Opava in Austrian Silesia .He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 122 in all, from 136 Austria in 1874 to 1073 Gellivara in 1923...
on October 4, 1885 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and was named after Sophia, wife of astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Hugo von Seeliger
Hugo von Seeliger
Hugo von Seeliger , also known as Hugo Hans Ritter von Seeliger, was a German astronomer, often considered the most important astronomer of his day....
.