1537 Transylvania, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
and long-
lost minor planet
Lost or LOST may refer to getting lost, or to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Television
* ''Lost'' (TV series), a 2004 American drama series about people who become stranded on a mysterious island
* ''Lost'' (2001 TV series), a short-lived Ameri ...
from the outer regions of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...
, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Gyula Strommer in 1940, it was later named after region of
Transylvania
Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, where the discoverer was born.
Discovery and rediscovery
''Transylvania'' was discovered on 27 August 1940, by Hungarian astronomer Gyula Strommer at the
Konkoly Observatory
Konkoly Observatory (; obs. code: 053) is an astronomical observatory located in Budapest, Hungary is part of the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences () and belongs to thHUN-REN Magyar Kutatási Hálózat Konkoly Observato ...
near Budapest, Hungary. Observations of the asteroid continued at Konkoly until February 1942. It became a
lost minor planet
Lost or LOST may refer to getting lost, or to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Television
* ''Lost'' (TV series), a 2004 American drama series about people who become stranded on a mysterious island
* ''Lost'' (2001 TV series), a short-lived Ameri ...
until Spring 1981, when astronomer Leif Kahl Kristensen at the
University of Aarhus
Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Utr ...
rediscovered it based on contemporary observations at
Palomar Observatory
The Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in the Palomar Mountains of San Diego County, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
.
Kristensen was able to show that ''Transylvania'' was first observed as at Heidelberg Observatory in October 1903, and, after its observations at Konkoly in the early 1940s, it was again observed at
Goethe Link Observatory
The Goethe Link Observatory, observatory code 760, is an astronomical observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States. It is owned by Indiana University and operated by the Indiana Astronomical Society https://iasindy.org/about.html, which eff ...
in December 1962, and at Palomar in February 1981.
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...