1576 Fabiola

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Asteroid

title: "1576 Fabiola" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["themis-asteroids", "discoveries-by-sylvain-arend", "named-minor-planets", "bu-type-asteroids-(tholen)", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1948"] description: "Asteroid" topic_path: "general/themis-asteroids" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1576_Fabiola" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Asteroid ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox planet"]

Field	Value
minorplanet	yes
name	1576 Fabiola
background	#D6D6D6
image	001576-asteroid shape model (1576) Fabiola.png
caption	Shape model of Fabiola from its lightcurve
discovery_ref
discoverer	S. Arend
discovery_site	Uccle Obs.
discovered	30 September 1948
mpc_name	(1576) Fabiola
alt_names	1948 SA1931 RV
1933 BZ
1939 CS1943 YA
1948 UJ
1950 DZ
named_after	Queen Fabiola of Belgium
mp_category	main-belt(outer)
Themis
orbit_ref
epoch	4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
uncertainty	0
observation_arc	85.66 yr (31,288 days)
aphelion	3.6746 AU
perihelion	2.6257 AU
semimajor	3.1501 AU
eccentricity	0.1665
period	5.59 yr (2,042 days)
mean_anomaly	130.30°
mean_motion	/ day
inclination	0.9514°
asc_node	166.62°
arg_peri	244.20°
dimensions	km
km
km
km
km
km
km
km
rotation	h
albedo

| spectral_type = Tholen BU B–V 0.632 U–B 0.405 | abs_magnitude = 11.0411.13

1576 Fabiola, provisional designation , is a Themistian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 27 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 September 1948, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle. The asteroid was named after Queen Fabiola of Belgium.

Orbit and classification

Fabiola is a Themistian asteroid that belongs to the Themis family (602), a very large family of carbonaceous asteroids, named after 24 Themis. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,042 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.

The asteroid was first identified as at Simeiz Observatory in September 1931. The body's observation arc begins with its identification as at Lowell Observatory in October 1931, almost 17 years prior to its official discovery observation at Uccle.

Physical characteristics

In the Tholen classification, Fabiola has an ambiguous spectral type, similar to the B-type asteroids ("bright" carbonaceous asteroids), yet with an "unusual" spectra (BU).

Rotation period

In November 1976, a rotational lightcurve of Fabiola was obtained from photometric observations by Swedish astronomer Claes-Ingvar Lagerkvist at Uppsala Observatory. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 6.7 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.2 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Fabiola measures between 21.33 and 30.150 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0746 and 0.123.

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0913 and a diameter of 27.25 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.04.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Queen Fabiola of Belgium (1928–2014). The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 31 January 1962 (M.P.C. 2116).

References

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::