The Asteroid (21) Lutetia in 2011!

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Jun 19

2011

by Antonio Rosa Campos

Antonio Rosa Campos
[email protected]
CEAMIG - REA / Brazil - AWB

On July 04 next, the asteroid (21) Lutetia will be at their closest approach to Earth, when it will reach magnitude 9.4, therefore already within the limits of observable magnitudes of small optical instruments, binoculars, spotting scopes and telescopes. The table below shows their ephemerides and well as a quest card, aiming for its location in the coming days.

As shown by their number in order of discovery, Lutetia was discovered by German amateur astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt (1802-1866) in Paris on November 15, 1852. His name is an allusion to the Latin word which means Paris, named by french astronomer Dominique François Jean Arago (1786-1853) after the city where it was discovered (Mourão, 1987).

Note: = (AU) * Astronomical Unit. Unit of distance equal to 149,600 x 106m. It was agreed to define the astronomical unit ofdistance, becoming a reference length as the semi-major axis would have the orbit of a planet ideal m = 0, undisturbed, and whose period of revolution was equal to the Earth.

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Bibliography:
Mourão, Ronaldo Rogério de Freitas - Dicionário Enciclopédico de Astronomia e Astronaútica, Ed. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro (RJ) - 1987, 914P.

Campos, Antônio Rosa - Almanaque Astronômico Brasileiro 2011, Ed. CEAMIG (Centro de Estudos Astronômicos de Minas Gerais), Belo Horizonte (MG) - 2010, 93P.