745 Mauritia ( prov. designation: A913 EH or 1913 QX) is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 24 kilometers (15 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 March 1913, by German astronomer Franz Kaiser at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Germany. ^[1] The presumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 9.9 hours. It was named after Saint Maurice, patron of the Saint Mauritius church in the city of Wiesbaden, where the discoverer was born. ^[3]

Mauritia is a non- family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. ^{[5] [6] [7]} It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 3.1–3.4  AU once every 5 years and 11 months (2,154 days; semi-major axis of 3.26 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 13 ° with respect to the ecliptic. ^[4] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg on 3 January 1918, almost five years after its official discovery observation. ^[1]

This minor planet was named after 3rd-century Christian martyr Saint Maurice, who is the patron of the St. Mauritius (Wiesbaden) [ de] church in Wiesbaden, Germany, where the discoverer was born (also see 717 Wisibada). The Swiss village Saint-Maurice, where he died in AD 287 is also named after Saint Maurice. The naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 ( H 75). ^[3]

Mauritia is an assumed, carbonaceous C-type asteroid due to its low albedo (see below) and its location in the outer asteroid belt. ^[11] However, D-type and P-type asteroids fulfill the location and albedo-based criterions as well.

In March 2013, a first rotational lightcurve of Mauritia was obtained from photometric observations over six nights by Frederick Pilcher at the Organ Mesa Observatory ( G50) in New Mexico, United States. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 9.945±0.001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.12±0.02 magnitude ( U=3). ^{[10] [a]}

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Mauritia measures (23.23±1.38) and (24.711±0.288) kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of (0.249±0.032) and (0.200±0.023), respectively. ^{[8] [9]} The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 44.22 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.5. The WISE team also published an alternative mean diameter of (27.004±0.348 km) with an albedo of (0.1696±0.0062). ^[11]

• Lightcurve Database Query (LCDB), at www.minorplanet.info
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Geneva Observatory, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 745 Mauritia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 745 Mauritia at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters