5577 Priestley
Encyclopedia
5577 Priestley is an inner main-belt asteroid
discovered on November 21, 1986 by Duncan Waldron
at Siding Spring. It was named (following a suggestion from Robert H. McNaught
) after Joseph Priestley
, as co-discoverer of the element oxygen
, because green emission in the aurora (astronomy)
, due to atomic oxygen, occurs at a wavelength of 5577 angstrom
s (557.7 nanometers).
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...
discovered on November 21, 1986 by Duncan Waldron
Duncan Waldron
Duncan Waldron is a photographer and amateur astronomer.Duncan Waldron was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His first job was creating high quality reproductions of astronomical plates for the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh...
at Siding Spring. It was named (following a suggestion from Robert H. McNaught
Robert H. McNaught
Robert H. McNaught is a Scottish-Australian astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University. He has collaborated with David J. Asher of the Armagh Observatory....
) after Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
, as co-discoverer of the element oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
, because green emission in the aurora (astronomy)
Aurora (astronomy)
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
, due to atomic oxygen, occurs at a wavelength of 5577 angstrom
Ångström
The angstrom or ångström, is a unit of length equal to 1/10,000,000,000 of a meter . Its symbol is the Swedish letter Å....
s (557.7 nanometers).