42 Isis
Encyclopedia
42 Isis is a large main-belt asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

, measuring 100.2km in diameter
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...

. It was discovered by N.R. Pogson on May 23, 1856, at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

. It was Pogson's first asteroid discovery.

The asteroid's name was chosen by Manuel John Johnson
Manuel John Johnson
Manuel John Johnson, FRS was a British astronomer.He was born in Macao, China, the son of John William Roberts of the East India Company and was educated at Mr Styles' Classical Academy in Thames Ditton and at the Addiscombe Military Academy for service in the East India Company .In 1823 he was...

, director of the Radcliffe Observatory
Radcliffe Observatory
Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of Oxford University from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and erected a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a grade I listed building.- History :...

 in Oxford. Although Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...

 is the name of an Egyptian goddess, the name was probably chosen in homage to Pogson's astronomer daughter, Elizabeth Isis Pogson. In addition, the Isis
The Isis
The Isis is the name given to the part of the River Thames above Iffley Lock which flows through the city of Oxford. The name is especially used in the context of rowing at the University of Oxford...

is the stretch of the River Thames that runs through Oxford.

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