Discovered by A. Massinger Alternative names 1914 TY Aphelion 3.4131 AU (510.59 Gm) Discovered 24 January 1914 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 24 January 1914 Observation arc 102.05 yr (37275 d) Perihelion 2.4477 AU (366.17 Gm) Inclination 18.237° Discoverer Adam Massinger | |
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Discovery site Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl Similar 423 Diotima, 276 Adelheid, 230 Athamantis, 360 Carlova, 349 Dembowska | ||
776 Berbericia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. A main-belt asteroid, it was discovered by A. Massinger at Heidelberg on January 24, 1914. It was named in honor of Adolf Berberich (1861–1920), a German astronomer.
In the late 1990s, a network of astronomers worldwide gathered lightcurve data that was ultimately used to derive the spin states and shape models of 10 new asteroids, including (776) Berbericia. The computed shape model for this asteroid is described as "asymmetric with sharp edges".
Richard P. Binzel and Schelte Bus further added to the knowledge about this asteroid in a lightwave survey published in 2003. This project was known as Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (0.435-0.925 micrometre) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999.