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32 Pomona

Main-belt asteroid

Field	Value
minorplanet	yes
background	#D6D6D6
name	32 Pomona
image	32Pomona (Lightcurve Inversion).png
caption	A three-dimensional model of 32 Pomona based on its light curve
discoverer	H. Goldschmidt
discovered	26 October 1854
mpc_name	(32) Pomona
alt_names	A899 QA; A911 KF;
1945 RB; 1949 SH;
1950 YD
pronounced
adjective	Pomonian
named_after	Pōmōna
mp_category	Main belt
orbit_ref
epoch	21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
semimajor	2.588 AU
perihelion	2.377 AU
aphelion	2.798 AU
time_periastron	2027-Apr-03
eccentricity	0.081
period	4.163 yr (1520.57 d)
inclination	5.521°
asc_node	220.357°
arg_peri	337.859°
mean_anomaly	242.006°
jupiter_moid	2.169 AU
tisserand	3.410
dimensions	km
mass	(8.88 ± 4.17/1.67) kg
density	3.102 ±
rotation	0.3937 d (9.448 h)
spectral_type	S
abs_magnitude	7.79
albedo	0.2564

1945 RB; 1949 SH; 1950 YD

32 Pomona ( ;) is a stony main-belt asteroid that is 81 km in diameter. It was discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt on October 26, 1854, and is named after Pōmōna, the Roman goddess of fruit trees.

Photometric observations of this asteroid gave a light curve with a synodic rotation period of 9.448 hours. The data was used to construct a model for the asteroid, revealing it to be an angular object that is spinning about a pole with ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (+58°, 267°). The ratio of the major to minor axes' lengths is roughly equal to 1.3.

The spectrum of 32 Pomona matches an S-type in the Tholen classification system, and is similar to primitive achondrite meteorites. Measurements of the thermal inertia of 32 Pomona give a value of around 20–120 m−2 K−1 s−1/2, compared to 50 for lunar regolith and 400 for coarse sand in an atmosphere.

Observations

Australian amateur astronomer Jonathan Bradshaw recorded an unusual asteroid occultation by 32 Pomona on 16 August 2008. The expected maximum duration of the occultation was 7.1 secs; however, the video recording shows two separate occultations of equal depth each lasting 1.2 seconds, separated by 0.8 secs. Those durations convert to chord lengths at the asteroid of 15 km, 10 km, and 15 km – for a total length of 40 km. The IRAS diameter for Pomona is 80.76 ± 1.6 km. The most likely explanation for this observation is that the asteroid is either binary (including a contact binary), or is a unitary asteroid with a significant concave region on its surface. The video of this occultation can be viewed on YouTube.

Notes

References

| access-date= 2013-04-07

| access-date= 22 January 2026

| display-authors = 1

|access-date = 2012-01-28 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120323182147/http://www.aaq.org.au/cms/index.php/sections/occultations/occultation-news/147-jonathan-woes-the-godess-of-fruit-trees.html |archive-date = 23 March 2012}}

|access-date = 2012-01-28 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130207110402/http://occsec.wellington.net.nz/planet/2008/results/20080816_Pomona_Rep.htm |archive-date = 2013-02-07

| display-authors = 1

|doi-access=free}}

References

Noah Webster (1884) ''A Practical Dictionary of the English Language''
"Pomona". [[Collins English Dictionary]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

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background-asteroids discoveries-by-hermann-goldschmidt named-minor-planets s-type-asteroids-(tholen) s-type-asteroids-(smass) astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1854

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