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Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia

When
1851
Where
Naples Observatory
Episodes
1

Annibale de Gasparis discovered asteroid 15 Eunomia on 29 July 1851 at Naples Observatory. The asteroid is a large S-type body in the middle belt. De Gasparis named it after the Greek goddess Eunomia, personifying law and order. Petersen announced the discovery in August 1851.

Episodes

  1. 29 July 1851 · Naples ObservatoryDiscovery of 15 Eunomia

    Annibale de Gasparis discovered asteroid 15 Eunomia on 29 July 1851 at Naples Observatory.

Background and detail

Background. Annibale de Gasparis was an Italian astronomer known for discovering asteroids. He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1851 and received the Lalande Prize from 1849 to 1853. He discovered nine asteroids visually, and in 1849 he found the asteroid Hygiea using an equatorial telescope by Reichenbach & Utzschneider.

Discovery. The asteroid 15 Eunomia was discovered on the night of 29 July 1851 at Naples Observatory in Naples, Italy. It is a large S-type asteroid in the middle belt, with a mean diameter of about 270 kilometres. Petersen announced the discovery in Astronomische Nachrichten on 22 August 1851.

Naming. De Gasparis chose to name the asteroid after the Greek goddess Eunomia. Eunomia was one of the Horae and the personification of law and order in Greek mythology. This naming followed his earlier practice of dedicating discoveries, such as naming Hygiea as Igea Borbonica.

People involved

Sources

  1. 15 Eunomia Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-04
  2. Annibale de Gasparis Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-31

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