893_Leopoldina

893 Leopoldina

893 Leopoldina

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893 Leopoldina (prov. designation: A918 KD or 1918 DS) is a large and elongated background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory on 31 May 1918.[1] The dark carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 14.1 hours and measures approximately 76 kilometers (47 miles) in diameter. It was named for Germany's national academy, the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle.[2]

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Orbit and classification

Leopoldina is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.[4][5] It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.6–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 4 months (1,950 days; semi-major axis of 3.05 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 17° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg Observatory on 31 May 1918.[1]

Physical characteristics

In the Tholen classification, Leopoldina's asteroid spectral type is closest to that of an X-type, and somewhat similar to that of a dark F-type asteroid (XF), while in both the Tholen- and SMASS-like taxonomy of the Small Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey (S3OS2), it is a common carbonaceous C-type asteroid.[3][5][10]

Naming

This minor planet was named for Germany's national academy, the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (German: Carolinisch-Leopoldinische Akademie der Naturforscher) in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. The naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 86).[2]

Rotation period

In April 2008, a rotational lightcurve of Leopoldina was obtained from photometric observations by Brian Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory (716) in Colorado. Analysis gave a classically shaped bimodal lightcurve with a well-defined rotation period of 14.115±0.003 hours and a brightness variation of 0.18±0.02 magnitude (U=3).[9][lower-alpha 1] The result supersedes Warner's previous observation from August 2005, which determined a period of 10.51±0.01 hours and an amplitude of 0.35±0.02 magnitude (U=2).[11]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Leopoldina measures (75.55±0.97), (76.14±4.5) and (85.992±0.577) kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of (0.051±0.001), (0.0497±0.006) and (0.039±0.007), respectively.[6][7][8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0497 and a diameter of 76.14 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.47.[12]

Alternative mean-diameter measurements published by the WISE team include (57.900±15.097 km), (68.91±23.37 km), (76±8 km), (76.1±15.2 km) and (76.623±2.309 km) with albedos in the range of 0.049 to 0.06.[5][12]

Three asteroid occultation were obtained on 29 January 1996, 30 August 2010 and 16 May 2015. They gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of 79.0 × 72.0 kilometers, 82.8 × 59.8 kilometers (best), and 75.0 × 75.0 kilometers, respectively. These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star.[5]

Notes

  1. Lightcurve plot of (893) Leopoldina, Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2008). Rotation period 14.115±0.003 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.18±0.02 mag. Quality code is 3. Summary figures at the LCDB.

References

  1. [1]
    "893 Leopoldina (A918 KD)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  2. [2]
    Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(893) Leopoldina". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 80. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_894. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. [3]
    "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 893 Leopoldina (A918 KD)" (2020-01-30 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  4. [4]
    "Asteroid 893 Leopoldina – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  5. [5]
    "Asteroid 893 Leopoldina". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  6. [6]
    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)
  7. [7]
    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 25 February 2020.
  8. [8]
    Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Nugent, C.; et al. (November 2012). "Preliminary Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-cryogenic Observations of Main Belt Asteroids". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 759 (1): 5. arXiv:1209.5794. Bibcode:2012ApJ...759L...8M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/759/1/L8.
  9. [9]
    Warner, Brian D. (April 2011). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: Unpublished Results from 1999 to 2008" (PDF). Minor Planet Bulletin. 38 (2): 89–92. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38...89W. ISSN 1052-8091. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  10. [10]
    Lazzaro, D.; Angeli, C. A.; Carvano, J. M.; Mothé-Diniz, T.; Duffard, R.; Florczak, M. (November 2004). "S3OS2: the visible spectroscopic survey of 820 asteroids" (PDF). Icarus. 172 (1): 179–220. Bibcode:2004Icar..172..179L. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.06.006. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  11. [11]
    Warner, Brian D. (March 2005). "Lightcurve analysis for asteroids 242, 893, 921, 1373, 1853, 2120, 2448 3022, 6490, 6517, 7187, 7757, and 18108" (PDF). Minor Planet Bulletin. 32 (1): 4–7. Bibcode:2005MPBu...32....4W. ISSN 1052-8091.
  12. [12]
    "LCDB Data for (893) Leopoldina". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 25 February 2020.
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