1778 Alfvén

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1778 Alfvén
Discovery
Synodic rotation period
4.8050±0.0027 h[7]
4.82±0.05 h[8]
0.08 (assumed)[3]
0.095±0.007[5][6]
C[3]
11.59±0.15 (R)[8] · 11.6[5] · 11.725±0.003 (R)[7] 11.8[1][3] · 12.32±0.54[9]

1778 Alfvén, also designated 4506 P-L, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter.

It was discovered on 26 September 1960, by astronomers

Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at the U.S. Palomar Observatory, in California.[4] It was later named after Swedish Nobelist Hannes Alfvén.[2]

Orbit and classification

The dark C-type asteroid is a member of the Themis family, a dynamical family of outer-belt asteroids with nearly coplanar ecliptical orbits. Alfvén orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,038 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]

A first precovery was taken at Lowell Observatory in 1906, extending the body's observation arc by 54 years prior to its official discovery observation.[4]

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In February 2013, two rotational

U=3-/2).[8][7]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's

albedo of 0.095,[5][6] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 20.51 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 11.8.[3]

Survey designation

The

survey designation "P-L" stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.[10]

Naming

This

M.P.C. 3643).[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1778 Alfven (4506 P-L)" (2020-10-11 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (1778) Alfvén". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "1778 Alfven (4506 P-L)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  5. ^
    doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90
    .
  6. ^
    doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68
    . Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. ^
    doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75
    . Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  8. ^
    doi:10.1088/0004-637X/788/1/17
    . Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  9. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007
    . Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Minor Planet Discoverers". Minor Planet Center. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  11. ISBN 978-3-642-01964-7
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1778_Alfvén&oldid=1191787728"