Discovered by Johann Palisa Minor planet category Main belt Aphelion 3.5657 AU (533.42 Gm) Discovered 3 September 1885 Discoverer Johann Palisa Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 3 September 1885 Observation arc 130.62 yr (47710 d) Perihelion 2.7325 AU (408.78 Gm) Orbits Sun Discovery site Vienna Observatory Spectral type M-type asteroid | |
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Similar Johann Palisa discoveries, Other celestial objects | ||
250 Bettina is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on September 3, 1885 in Vienna. It was named in honour of Baroness Bettina von Rothschild, the wife of the prominent Viennese banker Albert Salomon von Rothschild who had bought the naming rights for £50. Based upon the spectrum, it is classified as an M-type asteroid.
In 1988, the asteroid was observed from the Collurania-Teramo Observatory, allowing a light curve to be produced that showed "an irregular behavior with a deeper minimum and a narrower maximum". The data showed a rotation period of 5.055 hours and a brightness variation of 0.17 ± 0.01 in magnitude. The ratio of the lengths of the major to minor axes for this asteroid were found to be 1.51 ± 0.03.