Alternative names 1901 GP Discovered 11 July 1901 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 11 July 1901 Observation arc 114.55 yr (41838 d) Orbits Sun | |
Aphelion 2.7825 AU (416.26 Gm) (Q) Perihelion 2.3049 AU (344.81 Gm) (q) Discovery site Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory Similar 471 Papagena, 417 Suevia, 441 Bathilde, Sun, 423 Diotima | ||
472 Roma is an asteroid. It was discovered by Luigi Carnera on July 11, 1901. Its provisional name was 1901 GP. This asteroid was named by Antonio Abetti for the city of Rome in Italy, the native country of its discoverer.
At 21:57 UT, on Thursday, July 8, 2010, this 50 km wide asteroid occulted the star Delta Ophiuchi in an event lasting about five seconds. The occultation path crossed central Europe along a band that ran through Stockholm, Copenhagen, Bremen, Nantes and Bilbao. This was the only asteroid occultation event visible to the naked eye during the 21st century.
This is a member of the dynamic Maria family of asteroids that were probably formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body.
References
472 Roma Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA