Focus On

One-stop database of gathered information on the minor planets, including discovery data, astrological delineations and more. (Note: As I’m very very Virgoesque, posts are dated according to the MPC number and will appear in reverse order accordingly. You can also browse the Focus On index page or filter using the subcategories and tags.)

Mural of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (2005), by Salvador Almaraz López. Hidalgo is standing centrally, with the right hand outstretched and the left in a fist. Behind him, on his right, emaciated people on the ground are beneath the hooves of a horse driven by a figure in a mask and cowl. To his left is a revolutionary army with banners and weapons upraised. Directly behind Hidalgo is a godlike image of him. Red is prominent. In the foreground, a pair of hands is raised towards Hidalgo as if in supplication.
Aries discovery, Centaurs, Focus On

Focus On: (944) Hidalgo

Name origin: Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811), a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican War of Independence and recognized as the Father of the Nation. Due to the oppression of poor Mexicans by the Spanish colonisers, on 16th September 1810 he gave the call to arms that triggered the Mexican War of Independence, called the Cry of Dolores.

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Asteroids, Central main belt objects, Focus On, Main belt objects, Taurus discovery

Focus On: (941) Murray

Australian-British professor Gilbert Murray (1866-1957) helped Austria recover from World War I in 1920. He was an outstanding scholar of Ancient Greek literature, language and culture. Involved in the League of Nations from 1916, he was also president of the Ethical Union (now Humanists UK) in 1929 and 1930, and a founder of Oxfam.

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Clivia miniata (the natal or bush lily) photo detail showing bright orange flowers.
Asteroids, Flora family, Focus On, Inner main belt objects, Main belt objects, Pisces discovery

Focus On: (935) Clivia

Name origin: Genus of perennial flowering plants native to southern Africa, commonly called the natal or bush lily. They have green, long leaves and mainly bell-shaped flowers, with berry fruits. The genus itself is named after Charlotte Percy (née Clive), who first cultivated the plant in the U.K.

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Heinrich Bruns (1848-1919), German mathematician and astronomer. Detail of greyscale portrait by painter Anton Eduard Klamroth.
Asteroids, Flora family, Focus On, Inner main belt objects, Main belt objects, Pisces discovery

Focus On: (901) Brunsia

Named in honour of Ernst Heinrich Bruns (1848-1919), a German mathematician and astronomer, who also contributed to the development of the field of theoretical geodesy (measurement of the Earth’s relative geometry, gravity and orientation over time). He was mainly engaged in developing the theoretical side of Earth’s shape.

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Detail from photograph of Fridtjof Nansen (1915) by Henry Van der Weyde.
Asteroids, Focus On, Inner main belt objects, Libra discovery, Main belt objects

Focus On: (853) Nansenia

Name origin: Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (1861-1930), a Norwegian polymath, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian. He led the team that first crossed the interior of Greenland, reached a record northern latitude exploring to the North Pole, studied zoology and oceanography, and worked with the League of Nations.

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Snapshot of (831) Stateira's orbit and statistics at the approximate moment of discovery, from the JPL Small-Body Database.
Asteroids, Flora family, Focus On, Inner main belt objects, Main belt objects, Pisces discovery

Focus On: (831) Stateira

Stateira was a queen of ancient Persia who died about 400 BCE; wife of Artaxerxes II. She had a son, who became Artaxerxes III. She was a popular ruler, apparently because she talked to ordinary people, but did not get on well with her mother-in-law Parysatis, who eventually poisoned her.

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Focus On, Leo discovery, Main belt objects, Outer main belt objects

Focus On: (775) Lumière

Brothers Auguste Marie (19 October 1862-10 April 1954) and Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864-6 June 1948), French pioneering manufacturers of photography equipment and early film production. Their screening on 22 March 1895 in Paris was likely the first presentation of projected film.

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Simeiz VLBI Station. The 22m radio telescope is located at the foot of Mount Koshka. Photo shows a radio telescope situated on a bay with verdure around it and a rocky hill, ocean and a blue sky with few clouds in the background. The telescope is pointing almost directly upwards.
Asteroids, Focus On, Hilda group, Main belt objects, Outer main belt objects, Virgo discovery

Focus On: (748) Simeïsa

Name origin: Simeïs Observatory and the town of Simeïs, Crimea, Ukraine, where the object was first discovered. A total of 150 minor planets were found at the observatory, which operated as a research site until the mid-1950s and is now used for studying satellite orbits.

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