1784 Benguella
1784 Benguella is a small asteroid in the inner part of the main belt. It is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) across. It was discovered on June 30, 1935 by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Johannesburg Observatory in South Africa. The asteroid is named after Benguela, a city and major port in Angola.
Benguella is a background asteroid, meaning it does not belong to a specific asteroid family. It orbits the Sun every about 3.7 years (1,362 days) at a distance of roughly 2.1 to 2.7 astronomical units. Its orbit is fairly circular and slightly tilted, with an eccentricity of about 0.13 and an inclination of around 1.5 degrees.
As of now, Benguella’s rotation period, pole orientation, and shape have not been measured. Its spectral type is unknown, but infrared observations suggest a surface albedo somewhere in the range of about 0.08 to 0.24, indicating a relatively dark surface.
The official naming citation for Benguella was published on February 1, 1980.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 04:51 (CET).