319 Leona

319 Leona
The outline of Leona's shape revealed in a stellar occultation from 13 September 2023
Discovery [1]
Discovered byA. Charlois
Discovery siteNice Obs.
Discovery date8 October 1891
Designations
(319) Leona
Pronunciation/liːˈoʊnə/[2]
Named after
unknown Leona[3]
A920 HE
main-belt · (outer) [1][4]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc125.32 yr (45,774 days)
Aphelion4.1451 AU
Perihelion2.6655 AU
3.4053 AU
Eccentricity0.2172
6.28 yr (2,295 days)
21.414°
0° 9m 24.48s / day
Inclination10.564°
184.95°
228.27°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions79.6 km × 54.8 km
(± 2.2 km × 1.3 km)[5]
66±2 km[5]
430±2 h[6]
0.085±0.005[1][7]
P [8] · X [9] · C [4]
10.21[1][10]
10.46±0.06[6]

319 Leona (provisional designation A920 HE) is a dark, carbonaceous asteroid in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 8 October 1891, by French astronomer Auguste Charlois at Nice Observatory in France.[10] On 12 December 2023, Leona passed in front of the bright star Betelgeuse and occulted it, which caused the star to briefly dim as seen from Central America, Europe, and east Asia.[11] This occultation was expected to reveal the shape of Leona and the surface of Betelgeuse in high detail.

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference springer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference lcdb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ortiz2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Pilcher-2017b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Masiero-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference WISE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Veres-2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference MPC-object was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Denissenko, Denis (3 October 2004). "Unique occultations". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012.