131 Vala

Main-belt asteroid July 2020 yes #D6D6D6 131 Vala 131 Vala.png A 3D lightcurve model of 131 Vala Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters Litchfield Observatory 24 May 1873 (131) Vala A873 KA; 1945 KA;1952 DS 3; 1953 QE ' v ɑː l əVala vǫlva Main belt 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) 0 152.54 yr 2.43152 AU Gm 2 ri2 on 2.26271 AU Gm 2 ri2 on 2.60033 AU Gm 2 ri2 on on 0.069427 1384.89 days years 2 on on flip 4.9632° 65.556° 161.388° 92.165° 19.08 km/s 0.25994 ms / day 1.25637 AU Gm ri2 2 on 2.37651 AU Gm ri2 2 on 3.499 40.44 1.8 km 6.916 kg 0.0113 m/s² 0.0214 km/s 5.1812 h d on on K (Bus) 10.03 0.1051 0.010 ~178 K 131 Vala is an asteroid located in the main asteroid belt. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on 24 May 1873, and derives its name from völva (vǫlva, staff bearer), a prophetess in Norse paganism. One observation of an occultation of a star by Vala is from Italy (26 May 2002). 10-μm radiometric data collected from Kitt Peak in 1975 gave a diameter estimate of 34 km. Discovery and naming Vala was discovered on 24 May 1873 by German-American astronomer Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters at Litchfield Observatory in New York State, United States. Peters announced the asteroid's discovery on 3 June in the journal Astronomische Nachrichten. The asteroid was given the name Vala, after the prophetesses (non vǫlva) from Norse paganism.2572ff Orbit Vala orbits the Sun at an average distance of 2.43 astronomical units (AU), taking 3.79 Earth years to complete one orbit. This places it in the main asteroid belt, where it is classified as a background asteroid since it does not have any known relationship to an asteroid family. Its orbit has an inclination of 4.96° with respect to the ecliptic and an eccentricity of 0.07. Its distance from the Sun ranges from 2.26 AU at perihelion to 2.60 AU at aphelion. Physical characteristics In the Tholen classification system, it is categorized as an SU-type asteroid, while the Bus asteroid taxonomy system lists it as a K-type asteroid. Photometric observations of this asteroid during 2007 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico were used to create a "nearly symmetric bimodal" light curve plot. This showed a rotation period of 10.359 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.09 ± 0.02 magnitude during each cycle. The result is double the 5.18-hour period reported in the JPL Small-Body Database. References (131) Vala = 1873 KA = 1945 KA = 1952 DS3 = 1953 QE https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=131 Minor Planet Center 2026-05-17 2025-12-15 JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 131 Vala (A873 KA) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=131 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2026-05-17 (131) Vala – Proper Elements https://newton.spacedys.com/astdys2/index.php?pc=1.1.6&n=131 Asteroids Dynamic Site 2026-05-18 Schmadel Lutz D. Lutz D. Schmadel International Astronomical Union Dictionary of minor planet names 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin; New York 978-3-540-00238-3 27 https://books.google.com/books?id=KWrB1jPCa8AC&pg=PA27 Peters C. H. F. January 1873 Schreiben des Directors der Sternwarte zu Clinton, an den Herausgeber https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asna.18730820303 Astronomische Nachrichten de 82 3 43–44 10.1002/asna.18730820303 0004-6337 Peters C. H. F. January 1873 Observations of Antigone (129), Electra (130) und Vala (131), made at the Litchfield Observatory of Hamilton College https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asna.18730820902 Astronomische Nachrichten en 82 9 129–134 10.1002/asna.18730820902 0004-6337 subscription Frederick Pilcher Period Determination for 84 Klio, 98 Ianthe, 102 Miriam 112 Iphigenia, 131 Vala, and 650 Amalasuntha The Minor Planet Bulletin 35 2 71–72 June 2008 10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009 2008MPBu...35...71P . 1203.4336 Morrison D. Chapman C. R. Radiometric diameters for an additional 22 asteroids Astrophysical Journal 204 934–939 March 1976 10.1142/9789812834300_0469 2008mgm..conf.2594S . DeMeo Francesca E. Binzel Richard P. Slivan Stephen M. Bus Schelte J. 1 An extension of the Bus asteroid taxonomy into the near-infrared Icarus 202 1 160–180 July 2009 10.1016/j.icarus.2009.02.005 2009Icar..202..160D http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/2262/43276/1/PEER_stage2_10.1016%252Fj.icarus.2009.02.005.pdf 2013-04-08 . dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140317200310/https://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/2262/43276/1/PEER_stage2_10.1016/j.icarus.2009.02.005.pdf 2014-03-17 See appendix A. Price Neil Neil Price (archaeologist) The Viking Way, Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia 2 The Viking Way (book) Oxbow Books, Oxford and Philadelphia 2019 9781842172605 Further reading Spin-Shape Model for 131 Vala 1 Franco Lorenzo Pilcher Frederick Marchini Alessandro Baj Giorgio Bacci Paolo Maestripieri Martina Bacci Roberto Bulletin of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers 46 4 392–394 October 2019 2019MPBu...46..392F External links 131 130 Elektra 131 132 Aethra Category:Background asteroids Vala Vala Category:SU-type asteroids (Tholen) Category:Xc-type asteroids (SMASS) 18730524 Category:Objects observed by stellar occultation