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1655 Comas Solà, provisional designation 1929 WG, is a rare-type asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 November 1929, by Spanish astronomer of Catalan origin, Josep Comas i Solà at the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, Spain. It was later named after the discoverer.

Orbit and classification

It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.1–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,693 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first observed as A901 VG at Heidelberg Observatory in 1901, extending the body's observation arc by 28 years prior to its official discovery observation at Barcelona.

Physical characteristics

Comas Solà shows as rare XFU-type and B-type spectrum in the Tholen and SMASS classification scheme, respectively.

Lightcurves

A rotational lightcurve obtained by American amateur astronomer Robert Stephens gave a well-defined rotation period of 20.456 hours with a brightness variation of 0.20 magnitude (U=3).

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Comas Solà measures between 30.57 and 40 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.04 and 0.073. More recently published revised WISE/NEOWISE-data gave a refined diameter of 35.6 and 35.94 kilometers, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with IRAS, and adopts an albedo of 0.0726 with a diameter of 30.57 kilometers and an absolute magnitude of 11.04.

Naming

This minor planet was named in memory of its discoverer Josep Comas i Solà (1868–1937), first director of the discovering Fabra Observatory, Barcelona, capital of the Catalonia region in northeastern Spain. He was a prolific observer of minor planets and comets in the 1920s.

It is one of the rare cases where a minor planet bears the name of its discoverer. Solà is also honored by the asteroid 1102 Pepita, named after his nickname, and by the 127-kilometer wide Martian crater Comas Sola. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 June 1980 (M.P.C. 5357).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1655 Comas Sola (1929 WG)" (2016-10-26 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1655) Comas Solá". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1655) Comas Solá. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 131–132. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1656. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. ^ "LCDB Data for (1655) Comas Solà". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 25 December 2016.
4. ^ Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
5. ^ Usui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
6. ^ Alí-Lagoa, V.; Licandro, J.; Gil-Hutton, R.; Cañada-Assandri, M.; Delbo', M.; de León, J.; et al. (June 2016). "Differences between the Pallas collisional family and similarly sized B-type asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 591: 11. Bibcode:2016A&A...591A..14A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527660. hdl:11336/63614. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
7. ^ Masiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
8. ^ Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90.
9. ^ Alí-Lagoa, V.; de León, J.; Licandro, J.; Delbó, M.; Campins, H.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; et al. (June 2013). "Physical properties of B-type asteroids from WISE data". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 554: 16. arXiv:1303.5487. Bibcode:2013A&A...554A..71A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201220680. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
10. Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (1655) Comas Solà". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
11. Addleman, Don; Covele, Brent; Duncan, Allison; Johnson, Jama; Kramb, Steve; Lecrone, Crystal; et al. (December 2005). "Rose-Hulman spring 2005 lightcurve results: 155 Scylla, 590 Tomyris, 1655 Comas Solá, 2058 Roka, 6379 Vrba, and (25934) 2001 DC74". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 32 (4): 76–78. Bibcode:2005MPBu...32...76A. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
12. ^ Stephens, Robert D. (July 2009). "Asteroids Observed from GMARS and Santana Observatories: 2009 January - February". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 36 (3): 125–126. Bibcode:2009MPBu...36..125S. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
13. ^ "1655 Comas Sola (1929 WG)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
14. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 25 December 2016.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 1655 Comas Solà at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 1655 Comas Solà at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Background asteroids
• Discoveries by Josep Comas Solà
• Named minor planets
• XFU-type asteroids (Tholen)
• B-type asteroids (SMASS)
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1929