Discovered by Johann Palisa Alternative names none Observation arc 124.08 yr (45321 d) Spectral type C-type asteroid Discoverer Johann Palisa Discovery site Vienna Observatory | Discovery date 25 February 1892 Minor planet category Main belt Discovered 25 February 1892 Orbits Sun Named after Bamberg | |
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Pronunciation /bæmˈbɜːrɡə/ bam-BUR-gə Similar Johann Palisa discoveries, Other celestial objects | ||
324 Bamberga is one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on February 25, 1892 in Vienna. It is the 14th-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. Apart from the near-Earth asteroid Eros, it was the last asteroid which is ever easily visible with binoculars to be discovered.
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- Weekly space hangout september 13 2013 voyager is out ladee launches asteroid 324 bamberga
- In fiction
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Although its very high orbital eccentricity means its opposition magnitude varies greatly, at a rare opposition near perihelion Bamberga can reach a magnitude of +8.0, which is as bright as Saturn's moon Titan. Such near-perihelion oppositions occur on a regular cycle every twenty-two years, with the last occurring in 2013 and the next in 2035, when attaining magnitude 8.1 on September 13. Its brightness at these rare near-perihelion oppositions makes Bamberga the brightest C-type asteroid, roughly one magnitude brighter than 10 Hygiea's maximum brightness of around +9.1. At such an opposition Bamberga can in fact be closer to Earth than any main-belt asteroid with magnitude above +9.5, getting as close as 0.78 AU. For comparison, 7 Iris never comes closer than 0.85 AU and 4 Vesta never closer than 1.13 AU (when it becomes visible to the naked eye in a light pollution-free sky).
Overall Bamberga is the tenth-brightest main-belt asteroid after, in order, Vesta, Pallas, Ceres, Iris, Hebe, Juno, Melpomene, Eunomia and Flora. Its high eccentricity (for comparison 36% higher than that of Pluto), though, means that at most oppositions other asteroids reach higher magnitudes.
The 29-hour rotation period is unusually long for an asteroid more than 150 km in diameter. Its spectral class is intermediate between the C-type and P-type asteroids.
10µ radiometric data collected from Kitt Peak in 1975 gave a diameter estimate of 255 km. An occultation of Bamberga was observed on 8 December 1987, and gave a diameter of about 228 km, in agreement with IRAS results. In 1988 a search for satellites or dust orbiting this asteroid was performed using the UH88 telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories, but the effort came up empty.