47 Aglaja/əˈɡleɪ.ə/ is a large, dark main beltasteroid. It was discovered by Robert Luther on 15 September 1857 from Düsseldorf.[8] The name was chosen by the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn and refers to Aglaea, one of the Charites in Greek mythology.[9] It was rendered Aglaia in English sources into the early 20th century, as 'i' and 'j' are equivalent in Latin names and in the Latin rendering of Greek names.[2]
On 16 September 1984, the star SAO 146599 was occulted by 47 Aglaja. This event was observed from 13 sites in the continental United States, allowing a cross-sectional profile to be determined. Based upon this study, the asteroid has a diameter of 136.4 ± 1.2 km. The geometric albedo calculated at the time of the occultation was 0.071 ± 0.002.[10]
2012 photometric observations of this asteroid at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave a light curve with a period of 13.175 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.09 ± 0.01 in magnitude. This result is in agreement with previous studies.[5]
References
^'Aglaia' in Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
^ abJohn Craig (1869) The Universal English Dictionary Benjamin Smith (1903) The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
^ abPilcher, Frederick (October 2012), "Rotation Period Determinations for 47 Aglaja, 252 Clementina, 611 Valeria, 627 Charis, and 756 Lilliana", Minor Planet Bulletin, vol. 39, pp. 220–222, Bibcode:2012MPBu...39..220P.