44 Nysa

44 Nysa /ˈnaɪsə/ is a large and very bright main-belt asteroid, and the brightest member of the Nysian asteroid family. It is classified as a rare class E asteroid and is probably the largest of this type (though 55 Pandora is only slightly smaller).

Discovery

It was discovered by Hermann Goldschmidt on May 27, 1857, and named after the mythical land of Nysa in Greek mythology.

Physical properties

In 2002 Kaasalainen et al. used 63 lightcurves from the Uppsala Asteroid Photometric Catalog (UAPC) to construct a shape model of 44 Nysa. The shape model is conical, which they interpreted as indicating the asteroid may actually be a contact binary.

In 2003, Tanga et al. published results obtained from the Fine Guidance Sensor on the Hubble Space Telescope in which high-precision interferometry was performed on Nysa with the goal of a more accurate shape determination. Due to Hubble's orbit around the Earth, hours-long photometry sessions, as are normally used to resolve the asteroid's shape, were not possible. Instead the team used interferometry on the asteroid at the time in its rotation when it would have its longest axis perpendicular to the Earth. Ellipsoidal shape models were then fit to the resulting data to determine an estimate of the asteroid's shape. Both single and double ellipsoid models were fit to the data with both providing approximately the same goodness of fit; leaving the team unable to differentiate between a single elongated object and the contact binary model put forth by Kaasalainen et al. An observation of an occultaton by 44 Nysa of TYC 6273-01033-1 from the Dutch amateur astronomer Harrie Rutten showed a two phase reappearance on March 20, 2012. This confirms the conical shape or the binary nature of Nysa.

Nysa

Nysa may refer to:

People

Towns

ZSD Nysa

The Nysa van was produced in the town of Nysa, Poland, from 1958 until 1994. Contrary to the angular Żuk van, based on the same chassis parts, the Nysa had rounded body lines, especially the two-part rounded windshield, and was considered more comfortable and a better fit for carrying people. The basic body variant was a universal van, for cargo or persons, with sliding doors on the right or conventional doors (marked with a letter T - towos). At the rear, most variants had a single door opening to the left side. There existed also variants: a cargo van (letter F - furgon), a minibus (letter M) and an ambulance (letter S), and some others. A rare variant was made in the form of a light truck. At the time, the Nysa was practically the only van-size ambulance used in Poland. Many vans were sold to the Militia, which was the only form of police during the Communist era in Poland; blue Nysa vans became a kind of "trademark" of the Militia (Militia variants had slide doors on both sides, most had also a two-part door at the rear).

Nysa (wife of Nicomedes III of Bithynia)

Nysa or Nyssa (Greek: Νύσ(σ)α, flourished second half of 2nd century BC) was a Princess from the Kingdom of Cappadocia in Anatolia.

Nysa was a monarch of Greek Macedonian and Persian ancestry. She was the daughter and first-born child of the Monarchs Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia and Laodice of Cappadocia. The parents of Nysa were cousins and her younger brothers were the Kings Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia and Ariarathes VIII of Cappadocia. She was the namesake of her paternal grandmother Nysa of Cappadocia a previous Queen; wife of the previous King Ariarathes V of Cappadocia and mother of Ariarathes VI. She was born and raised in Cappadocia.

At an unknown date, Nysa married as his first wife Greek King Nicomedes III of Bithynia, who reigned between from c. 127 BC to c. 94 BC. Nysa and Nicomedes III were distantly related as they held lineage from the Seleucid dynasty, the Antipatrid dynasty and the Antigonid dynasty. Through marriage, she became Queen of Bithynia.