660 Crescentia
660 Crescentia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by American astronomer Joel Hastings Metcalf on January 8, 1908. The name may have been inspired by the asteroid's provisional designation 1908 CC. Peter Ting points out that the Rev. Joel Metcalf of Taunton (Massachusetts) discovered six asteroids with unexplained names, though listed in Lutz Schmadel's book. Ting used an on-line planetarium website to help with the location of some of the planets, playing back to the night of discovery. He noticed that there was a crescent moon (33%) low in the western sky and wonders if the Rev. Metcalf could have named the asteroid for the Moon. Crescentia would be a very unusual name for a person but not for a phase of the Moon.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Joel Hastings Metcalf |
| Discovery site | Taunton, Massachusetts |
| Discovery date | 8 January 1908 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | (660) Crescentia |
| Pronunciation | /krəˈsɛnʃə/ |
Alternative designations | 1908 CC |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 106.74 yr (38987 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.8075 AU (420.00 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.2581 AU (337.81 Gm) |
Semi-major axis | 2.5328 AU (378.90 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.10846 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 4.03 yr (1472.3 d) |
Mean anomaly | 185.507° |
Mean motion | 0° 14m 40.272s / day |
| Inclination | 15.205° |
Longitude of ascending node | 156.981° |
| 106.012° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 21.12±0.5 km |
Synodic rotation period | 7.9116 h (0.32965 d) |
| 0.2186±0.011 | |
| 9.14 | |
Crescentia is a member of the dynamic Maria family of asteroids that most likely formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body.