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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Roger W. Sinnott
Date: 2018 Feb 27, 14:15 -0500
My 1884 Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary has an interesting illustration (attached) of asteroid symbols, and it notes that they were soon replaced by a circled number denoting the order of discovery.
In a nod to the old-fashioned circle, besides being much easier to typeset, modern astronomers still use parentheses around the number, such as (4) Juno, or (2133) Franceswright. The latter honors the late Frances Wright, the wonderful lady who taught me celestial navigation.
Roger
------ Frank Reed wrote: -------------------
. . . . And when did they stop crafting astrological symbols for every new minor planet? I woud guess the parades and the symbols fell into disfavor around the same decade...
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