__NOTOC__ Vincenzo Silvano Casulli, usually known as Silvano Casulli (25 August 1944 – 24 July 2018Lutto per la scomparsa del Dr. Silvano Casulli, era cittadino onorario di Cervara di Roma
) was an Italian amateur

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and a

discoverer of minor planets This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 num ...

at his Vallemare di Borbona Observatory in

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. He is credited by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

with the discovery of 192

minor planet 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 ...

s. In 1985 he served on a team involved in using the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...

in a study that focused on Transition Comets—UV Search for OH Emissions in Asteroids. He was the first

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

to obtain precise astronometric positions of

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 ...

using a

CCD camera A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

. He is a prolific discoverer of

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 ...

s. In 1997, the inner main-belt asteroid and member of the

Flora family The Flora family (''adj. Florian''; ; also known as the Ariadne family) is a prominent family of stony asteroids located in the inner region of the asteroid belt. It is one of the largest families with more than 13,000 known members, or approx ...

, 7132 Casulli, was named by astronomer

Antonio Vagnozzi Antonio Vagnozzi (born 1950) is an amateur Italian astronomer and a discoverer of asteroids. Astronomical career Vagnozzi is credited by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) with the discovery of 46 minor planets during 1993–1999. In 1993, he was I ...

in his honor ().

Discoveries

9121 Stefanovalentini

On 24 February 1998, he discovered

9121 Stefanovalentini 91 may refer to: Years * 91 BC * AD 91 * 1991 * 2091 Transportation * List of highways numbered * 91/Perris Valley Line, a commuter rail line * Saab 91, an aircraft Other uses * 91 (number) * '' 91:an'', a Swedish comic * ''91'', a 2017 album b ...

at the Italian Colleverde Observatory. It is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the

main-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 30 kilometers in diameter. Casulli also obtained a

light-curve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of the light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the ''y''-axis and with time on the ''x''-axis. The light is usually in a par ...

from photometric observations and determined a

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

of 11.84 hours for the body's rotation. He named it in honour of

Stefano Valentini.

93061 Barbagallo

Together with Italian astronomer Ermes Colombini and others, he co-discovered the asteroid 93061 Barbagallo on 23 September 2000. The group-discovery is credited to the discovering observatory, Osservatorio San Vittore, Bologna. The asteroid was named after Mariano Barbagallo, an Italian colleague and friend of Colombini.

List of discovered minor planets

References

External links

ASTEROIDE N. 7132
on the naming of asteroid 7132 Casulli, including image of Silvano Casulli
Colleverde di Guidonia
''Gruppo Astrofili Montagna Pistoiese'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Casulli, Vincenzo Silvano 1944 births 2018 deaths People from Putignano 20th-century Italian astronomers Discoverers of asteroids * 21st-century Italian astronomers