449 Hamburga

Description

Hamburga is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material. It is named for the city of Hamburg in Germany. The name was announced in 1901 during a festival held by the Mathematical Society of Hamburg.

449 Hamburga was identified as one of three asteroids that were likely to be a parent body for chondrites along with 304 Olga and 335 Roberta. All three asteroids were known to have low-albedo (not reflect as much light) and be close to "meteorite producing resonances". Chrondrites are the most common type of meteor found on Earth, accounting for over 80% of all meteors. They are named for the tiny spherical silicate particles that are found inside them (those particles are called chondrules).

Proposed spacecraft visit

In the 1980s and 1990s, NASA considered a spacecraft mission to the asteroid. The mission plan called for a launch in 1995 and a flyby of Hamburga in early 1998. The McDonald's chain of restaurants expressed an interest in sponsoring the mission, due to the accidental similarity of the asteroid's name to the food item "hamburger", which was discussed in exploratory meetings between themselves and NASA.

In August 1988 in the United States' city of Baltimore, P. Weissman addressed the International Astronomical Union on a mission to this asteroid (449), a mission which also include a rendezvous with Comet Kopf. See Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby for more on the mission to the comet. This mission can also be compared to Rosetta, which successfully flew by two minor planets and orbited a Comet during its approach to the Sun in the early 21st century. P. Weissman later worked on the Rosetta mission.

Study

It was predicted that 449 occulted the star HIP 1424 in July 2013. Stellar occultations can allow a chord to be calculated.

An asteroid occultation was predicted for 18 Oct 2018 with the magnitude 12 star UCAC4-557-042266.

449 Hamburga has been observed to occult 15 stars between 1998 and 2023.

References

References

1. [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJDvAAAAMAAJ&q=%22449+Hamburga%22 Lunar and planetary science: abstracts of papers submitted to the ... Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Volume 27, Part 1 - Lunar and Planetary Institute, 1 January 1996]
2. "ASU - Chondrites".
3. "Mars rover Curiosity's other mission: publicity machine - 5 December 2012".
4. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SREACQAAQBAJ&dq=449+Hamburga+nasa&pg=PA207 Transactions of the International Astronomical Union: Proceedings of the ... edited by Derek McNally] (Google Books link)
5. Glancey, Jonathan. "The strange story of the world's most famous logo".
6. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SREACQAAQBAJ&dq=449+Hamburga+nasa&pg=PA207 Transactions of the International Astronomical Union: Proceedings of the ... edited by Derek McNally] (Google Books link)]
7. [https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Weissman/ Planetary Ices: People] {{webarchive. link. (2015-09-08)
8. [http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2013_07/0707_449_30724.htm Asteroid Occultation Updates] {{webarchive. link. (2013-01-07)
9. "(449) Hamburga / UCAC4-557-042266 event on 2018 Oct 18, 13:40 UT".