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251 Sophia

main-belt asteroid
Place asteroid Q149331
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Summary

251 Sophia is an asteroid[1]. It ranks in the top 2% of asteroid entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (73 views/month).[2]

Key Facts

  • Discoverer or inventor: Johann Palisa[3]
  • Site of astronomical discovery: Vienna Observatory[4]
  • Named after: Sophie von Seeliger[5]
  • Follows: 250 Bettina[6]
  • Followed by: 252 Clementina[7]
  • Minor planet group: asteroid belt[8]
  • Commons category: 251 Sophia[9]
  • Parent astronomical body: Sun[10]
  • Provisional designation: 1950 RH1[11], 1953 FN1[12], A907 UA[13], A885 TA[14]
  • Time of discovery or invention: October 4, 1885[15]
  • Significant event: naming[16]
  • Orbital eccentricity: 0.0933634161966856[17]
  • Absolute magnitude: 9.96[18]
  • Orbital inclination: 10.527 degree[19], 10.54878900644734 degree[20]
  • Orbital period: 1992.716070666555 day[21]
  • Rotation period: 20.216 hour[22]
  • Longitude of ascending node: 155.8503581053047 degree[23]
  • Semi-major axis of an orbit: 3.09906960747067 astronomical unit[24]
  • Apoapsis: 3.388409333055454 astronomical unit[25]
  • Periapsis: 2.809729881885887 astronomical unit[26]
  • Argument of periapsis: 289.5549619390234 degree[27]
  • Mean anomaly: 190.6198426820459 degree[28]
  • Diameter: 27.495 km[29]
  • Albedo: 0.234[30]
  • Epoch: November 21, 2025[31]

Why It Matters

251 Sophia has Wikipedia articles in 21 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[32] It is known by 25 alternative names across languages and contexts.[33]

Related Entities

Johann Palisa

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [3] ↑ . Minor Planet Center database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  3. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [6] ↑ . Minor Planet Center database. wikidata.org.
  5. [7] ↑ . Minor Planet Center database. wikidata.org.
  6. [8] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  7. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [11] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  10. [12] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  11. [13] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  12. [14] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  13. [15] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  14. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [17] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  16. [18] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  17. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [20] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  19. [21] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  20. [22] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  21. [23] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  22. [24] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  23. [25] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  24. [26] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  25. [27] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  26. [28] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  27. [29] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  28. [30] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  29. [31] ↑ . JPL Small-Body Database. Retrieved . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [2] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [32] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [33] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). 251 Sophia. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/251-sophia
MLA “251 Sophia.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 17 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/251-sophia.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_251-sophia_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{251 Sophia}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/251-sophia}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-17}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): 251 Sophia — https://4ort.xyz/entity/251-sophia (retrieved 2026-10-17)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/251-sophia · Last refreshed:

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 2d ago · Kwamikagami · 2026-10-15 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Instance of → —
    Named after → Sophie von Seeliger
    Orbital period → {'unit': 'Q573', 'amount': '+1992.716070666555'}
    Site of astronomical discovery → Vienna Observatory
    + 28 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Astronomic symbol image: Sophia symbol (fixed width).svg"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.