28 Bellona

28 Bellona is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by German astronomer R. Luther on March 1, 1854, and named after Bellōna, the Roman goddess of war; the name was chosen to mark the beginning of the Crimean War. Its historical symbol was Bellona's whip and spear; it is in the pipeline for Unicode 17.0 as U+1CECE 𜻎 ().^[8][9]

28 Bellona

Bellona (apmag 11.8) near a magnitude 12 star, next to Abell 2670[1]
Discovery
Discovered by	R. Luther
Discovery date	1 March 1854
Designations
MPC designation	(28) Bellona
Pronunciation	/bɛˈloʊnə/[2]
Named after	Bellona
Alternative designations	1951 CC2
Minor planet category	Main belt
Adjectives	Bellonian /bɛˈloʊniən/[2]
Symbol	(historical)
Orbital characteristics
Epoch Sept 30, 2012 (JD 2456200.5)
Aphelion	477.240 Gm (3.196 AU)
Perihelion	353.977 Gm (2.358 AU)
Semi-major axis	415.608 Gm (2.777 AU)
Eccentricity	0.151
Orbital period (sidereal)	1690.19 d (4.63 a)
Mean anomaly	121.574°
Inclination	9.430°
Longitude of ascending node	144.330°
Argument of perihelion	344.461°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	97 ± 11 km[3] 120.9 ± 3.4 km (IRAS)[4] 108.10 ± 11.49 km[5]
Mass	(2.62±0.15)×1018 kg[5]
Mean density	3.95 ± 1.28 g/cm3[5]
Synodic rotation period	15.706 h[4][6]
Geometric albedo	0.1763[4][7]
Spectral type	S[4]
Absolute magnitude (H)	7.09[4]

Bellona is a stony (S-type) asteroid with a cross-section size of around 100–120 km. 28 Bellona is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.63 years.

Bellona has been studied by radar.^[10] Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2007 gave a light curve with a period of 15.707 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.27 ± 0.03 in magnitude. This report is in close agreement with a period estimate of 15.695 hours reported in 1983, and rejects a longer period of 16.523 hours reported in 1979.^[11]