CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

189 Phthia

main-belt asteroid

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ145367 ↗
Source-derived summary

189 Phthia is a bright-coloured, rocky main belt asteroid that was discovered by German-American astronomer Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters on September 9, 1878, in Clinton, New York, and named after Phthia, a region of ancient Greece.

Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico, during 2008 gave a light curve with a period of 22.346 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.26 ± 0.02 in magnitude.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “189 Phthia” as main-belt asteroid. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Phthia, main-belt and asteroid.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1878, 2008—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Phthia, main-belt and asteroid providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “189 Phthia”, the useful work is to connect “main-belt asteroid” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q145367. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1878 and 2008.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “189 Phthia”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 189 Phthia primary sources, 189 Phthia archive and Phthia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “189 Phthia”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “189 Phthia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.