131 Vala
Vala (minor planet designation: 131 Vala) is an inner main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on 24 May 1873, and named after Völva, a prophetess in Norse mythology. One observation of an occultation of a star by Vala is from Italy (26 May 2002). 10- μm radiometric data collected from Kitt Peak in 1975 gave a diameter estimate of 34 km. In the Tholen classification system, it is categorized as an SU-type asteroid, while the Bus asteroid taxonomy system lists it as a K-type asteroid. Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2007 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico were used to create a "nearly symmetric bimodal" light curve plot. This showed a rotation period of 10.359 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.09 ± 0.02 magnitude during each cycle. The result is double the 5.18-hour period reported in the JPL Small-Body Database. On 2028-Apr-05, Vala will pass from asteroid 2 Pallas. References Further reading ...
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Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters (September 19, 1813 – July 18, 1890) was a German–American university teacher and astronomer at the Litchfield Observatory of Hamilton College, New York, and a pioneer in the study and visual discovery of asteroids. His name is often given as . Biography He was born in Koldenbüttel in Schleswig, then part of Denmark but later part of Germany, and later studied under Carl Friedrich Gauss. His younger brother was the German explorer Wilhelm Peters. Peters spoke many languages and gravitated to Italy at the time of the Italian unification. His association with radical groups brought him to the attention of authorities, and he fled to the Ottoman Empire, where he became a government advisor. At the suggestion of the resident U.S. consul, he emigrated to the United States in 1854. In 1874, Peters headed a United States Naval Observatory expedition to Queenstown, New Zealand, to observe the Transit of Venus. The visit is marked with a plaq ...