996 Hilaritas is a Themistian asteroid. It was discovered in 1923 by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa. Following Palisa’s death in 1925 this asteroid was named for a happy or contented mind; qualities associated with the discoverer.Photometric observations of this asteroid collected during 2010 show a rotation period of 10.052 ± 0.001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.65 ± 0.03 magnitude.
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