275 Sapientia is a very large main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 15 April 1888 in Vienna. This object is named for the Roman personification of wisdom, Sophia.
This object is orbiting the Sun with a semi-major axis of with an eccentricity of 0.16 and an orbital period of 4.61 years. The orbital period is inclined at an angle of 4.76° It is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material.
Observations performed at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado Springs, Colorado, during 2007 produced a light curve with an estimated period of hours with a brightness range of in magnitude. A 2014 study found a period of hours with a variation of in magnitude. The light curve was found to be irregular, suggesting the asteroid has an irregular shape. On September 30, 2015, the asteroid was observed occulting the 7th magnitude star HIP 14977 from multiple sites in Europe. The resulting chords showed a nearly circular prolate spheroid profile.
References
External links , Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2007) Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info ) Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center