Statue of Queen Victoria & Asteroid 12 Victoria - Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa - Extraterrestrial Locations on Waymarking.com

Facing the Post office (former Town Hall) is a larger than life marble and stone statue of Queen Victoria that has been erected to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee. It was sculpted by William Hamo Thornycroft and is a particularly gracious portrayal of the queen, as she would have looked at the founding of the young colony of Natal.

The inscription reads: VICTORIA QUEEN AND EMPRESS / THIS STATUE WAS ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS OF DURBAN TO COMMEMORATE THE SIXTIETH YEAR OF THE GLORIOUS REIGN OF THEIR BELOVED SOVEREIGN / A.D. 1837 A.D. 1897

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From Wikipedia: "Victoria (minor planet designation: 12 Victoria) is a large main-belt asteroid, orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.56 years and an eccentricity of 0.221. It is a stony (S-type) asteroid, about 112–124 km across with an albedo of 0.18 and a rotation period of 8.66 hours. Victoria has been observed to occult a star three times since its discovery. Radar and speckle interferometry observations show that the shape of Victoria is elongated, and it is suspected to be a binary asteroid, with a moon of irregular shape.

This minor planet was discovered by English astronomer J. R. Hind on September 13, 1850. Victoria is officially named after the Roman goddess of victory, but the name also honours Queen Victoria. The goddess Victoria (Nike for the Greeks) was the daughter of Styx by the Titan Pallas. The coincidence with the name of the then-reigning queen caused quite a controversy at the time, and B. A. Gould, editor of the prestigious Astronomical Journal, adopted the alternate name Clio (now used by 84 Klio), proposed by the discoverer. However, W. C. Bond, of the Harvard College Observatory, then the highest authority on astronomy in America, held that the mythological condition was fulfilled and the name therefore acceptable, and his opinion eventually prevailed." (visit link)

Website of the Extraterrestrial Location: [Web Link] Website of location on Earth: [Web Link] Celestial Body: Asteroid

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