Discovery of Flora

Flora or 8 is a little one & dificult asteroid to find it because its diameter. It has an excentricity of 0.1562, classic to belongs an asteroid group. Its orbits is situated between Mars & Jupiter with medium distance from Sun of 2.2011 AU with a perihelion situated to 1.86 AU & aphelion or far-off point in 2.55 AU.

Flora's orbit has a inclination to relationship with the plane of the ecliptic one in 5.89º. During the night of my localitation & discorered was situated at south of Capricornius constellation very closed to Microscopium constellation, close to the oposition at magnitude to 9.2.

During the oposition of 2000, Flora was situated at Capricornius constellation variing from north to south until close to Microscopium constellation.

The observation to find it was made at differents days but to due to the low declination that it's -24º seen from Mallorca island of +40º & bad weather conditions, with a Moon close to full involved I'd seen Flora asteroid at the end of August, 2000. At these dates I was able to see the moviment of Flora at field sky with a day of differens.

First observation was made at August, 27^th, 2000 at 19h.48m. (UT). & second one was made at August 28^th, 2000 at 19h.51m. (UT). At first localitation, yet, I identified Flora asteroid with a faint point at poor field of stars thanks to astronomical program that it's Guide version 7.0 that you can see down one.

By the way, the discovery date & identificatioin of Flora asteroid is August 27^th, 2000.

Flora is an asteroid that it was discovered by english man J. R. Hind at October 18^th, 1847 in London. It has a diameter of 143 km, & 1.17" arc, its absolute magnitude is 6.49 with a magnitude coeficient of 0.28 & index colour B-V of 0.89.

By the other hand, with a Java program that I found on the net, & thanks to Osamu Ajiki of AstroArts&y Ron Baalke of JPL, you can see the asteroid orbit, distans in relationship to Sun 6 Earth at Solar System for any date.

In classic mythology to Flora is considered it to one of the Latin divinities older than, according to Varron, it was between the twelve to those who sabino king Tito Tacio had commanded to erect an altar in Rome. Flora represented the eternal one to appear again of the vegetation in spring, and in this sense, she presided over the flowering, as much the one of cereals as the one of the grapevine, fruit tree and plant of recreation in general. She appears mentioned in canoness of the Arvales Brothers and its cult tolerated a series of destined ceremonies to put the harvests under the divine protection. In some populations sabinas it had consecrated the month of April, and in Rome its celebration was celebrated at the same time, offering him to it, apparently sacrifices of ewes in a very old temple of the Quirinal. There a priest celebrated, flamen Floralis, that king Numa had created specifically for the goddess. The Sibylline oraculs, colsultaded in century III a.C. in the occasion of a succession of lost harvests, modified the cult of Flora somewhat. A new temple was devoted to him and its celebration was fixed the 28^th of April, although the games celebrated in their honor, the Floraria lasted until the 3^rd of May.