1000 Piazzia
1000 Piazzia, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 12 August 1923, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 9.5 hours. It was named after Italian Giuseppe Piazzi, who discovered 1 Ceres.
Orbit and classification
Piazzia is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.4–4.0 AU once every 5 years and 8 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.26 and an inclination of 21° with respect to the ecliptic. As no precoveries were taken, the body's observation arc begins with its first recorded observation on the night following its official discovery date.Naming
This minor planet was named in honour of Italian Theatine monk Giuseppe Piazzi. He was a director of both the Palermo and Naples observatories, and known for the compilation of the Palermo Catalogue, containing the precise position of 7,646 stars. In 1801, Piazzi discovered 1 Ceres, the first and largest asteroid and the main-belt's only dwarf planet. He is also honored by the lunar crater Piazzi. The official naming citation was first mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955. The asteroid is the first of several early "kilo-numbered" minor planets that were dedicated to renowned scientists or institutions including:- 2000 Herschel, for William Herschel who discovered Uranus
- 3000 Leonardo, for the Italian polymath of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci
- 4000 Hipparchus, for the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus
1000 Piazzia was named as part of trio honoring the events surrounding the discovery of Ceres in 1801. A person named Carl Friedrich Gauss who computed the orbit of Ceres, and Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers who found it again later that year after it has passed behind the Sun. In honor of them, 1001 Gaussia for Gauss and 1002 Olbersia for Olbers were named along with 1000 Piazzia. In the next few years only three more astronomical bodies were found between Mars and Jupiter, Pallas, Juno, and 4 Vesta, however it would be 37 years before another asteroid was found, 5 Astraea in 1845.
By 1868, 100 asteroids had been discovered, however it would not be until 1921 that the 1000th was discovered. The rate accelerated in the 20th century and the ten thousandth would be discovered in 1989.