729 Watsonia
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox planet
| minorplanet= yes
| background= #D6D6D6
| name= 729 Watsonia
| mpc_name= (729) Watsonia
| alt_names= 1912 OD
| pronounced= {{IPAc-en|w|ɒ|t|'|s|oʊ|n|i|ə}}{{OED|watsonia}}
| discoverer= Joel Hastings Metcalf
| discovered= 9 February 1912
| discovery_site= Winchester, Massachusetts
| epoch= 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
| eccentricity= 0.096988
| semimajor= {{Convert|2.7594|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}
| perihelion= {{Convert|2.4917|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}
| aphelion= {{Convert|3.0270|AU|Gm|abbr=on|lk=on}}
| inclination= 18.042°
| asc_node= 124.388°
| arg_peri= 88.376°
| mean_anomaly= 223.02°
| mean_motion= {{Deg2DMS|0.21503|sup=ms}} / day
| observation_arc= 98.79 yr (36082 d)
| uncertainty= 0
| abs_magnitude= 9.31
| rotation= {{Convert|25.230|h|d|abbr=on|lk=on}}
| albedo= {{val|0.1381|0.009}}
| mean_radius= {{val|24.575|0.75}} km
}}
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.
Description
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.
References
{{Reflist|refs=
| first1 = Donald K.
| last1 = Yeomans
| title = 729 Watsonia
| work = JPL Small-Body Database Browser
| publisher = NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
| url = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=729
| access-date= 5 May 2016
| postscript= .
}}
| last1 = Novaković
| first1 = Bojan
| last2 = Cellino
| first2 = Alberto
| last3 = Knežević
| first3 = Zoran
| display-authors = 1
| title = Families among high-inclination asteroids
| work = Icarus
| volume = 216
| issue = 1
| pages = 69–81
|date=November 2011
| doi = 10.1016/j.icarus.2011.08.016
| bibcode = 2011Icar..216...69N
| postscript= .
|arxiv = 1108.3740 }}
}}
External links
- {{AstDys|729}}
- {{JPL small body}}
{{Minor planets navigator |728 Leonisis |number=729 |730 Athanasia}}
{{Small Solar System bodies}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:000729}}
Category:STGD-type asteroids (Tholen)
Category:L-type asteroids (SMASS)
{{beltasteroid-stub}}