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Provisional Designation In Astronomy
Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calculated. Approximately 47% of the more than 1,100,000 known minor planets remain provisionally designated, as hundreds of thousands have been discovered in the last two decades. __TOC__ Minor planets The current system of provisional designation of minor planets (asteroids, centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects) has been in place since 1925. It superseded several previous conventions, each of which was in turn rendered obsolete by the increasing numbers of minor planet discoveries. A modern or new-style provisional designation consists of the year of discovery, followed by two letters and, possibly, a suffixed number. New-style provisional designation For example, the provisional designation stands for the 3910th body identified du ...
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Minor Planets
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor planet'', but that year's meeting reclassified minor planets and comets into dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies (SSSBs).Press release, IAU 2006 General Assembly: Result of the IAU Resolution votes
International Astronomical Union, August 24, 2006. Accessed May 5, 2008.
Minor planets include s (



20936 Nemrut Dagi
20936 Nemrut Dagi, ''provisional designation'': , is a stony Hungaria asteroid and Mars-grazer from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 13 May 1971, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California, United States. The asteroid has a rotation period of 3.28 hours, a likely spheroidal shape, and a high albedo typically seen among the enstatite-rich E-type asteroids. In 2012, it was named after the a dormant volcano Nemrut (Nemrut Dağı) in Turkey. Orbit and classification ''Nemrut Dagi'' belongs to the dynamical group of Hungaria asteroids, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.7–2.0  AU once every 2 years and 6 months (922 days; semi-major axis of 1.85 AU). Its orbit has an eccentri ...
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26 Proserpina
Proserpina (minor planet designation: 26 Proserpina) is a main-belt asteroid discovered by German astronomer R. Luther on May 5, 1853. It is named after the Roman goddess Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres and the Queen of the Underworld. Another main-belt asteroid, 399 Persephone, discovered in 1895, is named after her Greek counterpart. This object is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.33 years. It has a cross-section size of around 90 km and a stony ( S-type) composition. Photometric observations of this asteroid have produced discrepant estimates of the rotation period. A period of 12.13 hours was reported in 1979, followed by 10.6 hours in 1981 and 6.67 hours in 2001. Observations made in 2007 at the Oakley Observatory in Terre Haute, Indiana produced a light curve with a period of 13.06 ± 0.03 hours and a brightness variation of 0.21 ± 0.01 in magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and it ...
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17 Thetis
Thetis, minor planet designation 17 Thetis, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 90 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 April 1852, by German astronomer Robert Luther at Bilk Observatory in Düsseldorf, Germany who deferred to Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander the naming his first asteroid discovery after Thetis from Greek mythology. Description The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–2.8  AU once every 3 years and 11 months (1,419 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 6 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The spectrum of this object indicates that it is an S-type asteroid with both low and high calcium forms of pyroxene on the surface, along with less than 20% olivine. The high-calcium form of pyroxene forms 40% or more of the total pyroxene present, indicating a history of igneous rock deposits. This suggests that the asteroid underwent differentiation by melting, creating a s ...
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16 Psyche
16 Psyche () is a large M-type asteroid discovered by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis on 17 March 1852 and named after the Greek goddess Psyche. The prefix "16" signifies that it was the sixteenth minor planet in order of discovery. It is the largest and most massive of the M-type asteroids, and one of the dozen most massive asteroids. It has a mean diameter of approximately and contains about one percent of the mass of the asteroid belt. Historically, it was hypothesized to be the exposed core of a protoplanet, but numerous recent studies have all but ruled that out. Psyche will be explored by the spacecraft of the same name, with launch planned in 2023 and arrival in 2029. Symbol Astronomers created icon-like symbols for the first fifteen asteroids to be discovered, as a type of shorthand notation consistent with older notation for the classical planets. Psyche was given an iconic symbol, as were a few other asteroids discovered after 16 Psych ...
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