Discovered by K. Reinmuth MPC designation 1064 Aethusa Minor planet category main-belt Absolute magnitude 10.6 Discoverer Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth | Discovery date 2 August 1926 Alternative names 1926 PA · 1962 HF Discovered 2 August 1926 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Aethusa cynapium (fool's parsley) Discovery site Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl Similar 1056 Azalea, 1002 Olbersia, 276 Adelheid, 1001 Gaussia, 132 Aethra | ||
1064 Aethusa, provisional designation 1926 PA, is a main-belt asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory on 2 August 1926. It is orbiting the Sun in a distance of 2.09−2.99 AU, measures about 19 kilometers in diameter, and has a high geometric albedo of 0.32.
Measurements made with the IRAS observatory give a diameter of 20.64 ± 1.37 km and a geometric albedo of 0.27 ± 0.03. By comparison, the MIPS photometer on the Spitzer Space Telescope gives a diameter of 8.621 ± 4.28 km and a geometric albedo of 0.17 ± 0.04. Other photometric observations of the asteroid collected during 2006 show a rotation period of 8.621 ± 0.004 hours with a brightness variation of 0.18 ± 0.02 magnitude.
The asteroid is named after a genus in the carrot family, "Aethusa", of which the plant Aethusa cynapium (fool's parsley) is the only member.