1258_Sicilia

1258 Sicilia

1258 Sicilia

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1258 Sicilia, provisional designation 1932 PG, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 44 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 August 1932, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany.[14] The asteroid was named after the Italian island of Sicily.[3]

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Orbit and classification

Sicilia is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population.[5] It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 3.0–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,076 days; semi-major axis of 3.19 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1932.[14]

Physical characteristics

Sicilia is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid.[4]

Rotation period

In May 2010, a first rotational lightcurve of Sicilia was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory (E09) in Australia. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 13.500 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.19 magnitude (U=3-).[12]

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, Sicilia measures between 36.83 and 52.529 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0369 and 0.07.[6][8][7][9][10][11]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link largely agrees with IRAS and derives an albedo of 0.0470 and a diameter of 44.39 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.7.[4]

Naming

This minor planet was named after the Italian island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 116).[3]

References

  1. [1]
    "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1258 Sicilia (1932 PG)" (2017-10-29 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  2. [2]
    "Sicilian". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. [3]
    Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1258) Sicilia". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1258) Sicilia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 104. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1259. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  4. [4]
    "LCDB Data for (1258) Sicilia". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  5. [5]
    "Asteroid 1258 Sicilia – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. [6]
    Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; et al. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 13. arXiv:1509.02522. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814..117N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/117. S2CID 9341381. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  7. [7]
    Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Kramer, E. A.; Grav, T.; et al. (September 2016). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year Two: Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (3): 12. arXiv:1606.08923. Bibcode:2016AJ....152...63N. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/63.
  8. [8]
    Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  9. [9]
    Usui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
  10. [10]
    Masiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121. S2CID 119293330.
  11. [11]
    Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. S2CID 35447010.
  12. [12]
    Pligge, Zachary; Monnier, Adam; Pharo, John; Stolze, Kellen; Yim, Arnold; Ditteon, Richard (January 2011). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory: 2010 May". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 38 (1): 5–7. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38....5P. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  13. [13]
    Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. S2CID 53493339. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  14. [14]
    "1258 Sicilia (1932 PG)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
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