14974 Počátky

14974 Počátky, provisional designation 1997 SK₁, is a stony background asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Czech astronomer Miloš Tichý at Kleť Observatory in the Czech Republic on 22 September 1997, and named for the Czech town Počátky.^[8]

14974 Počátky

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	M. Tichý
Discovery site	Kleť Obs.
Discovery date	22 September 1997
Designations
MPC designation	(14974) Počátky
Named after	Počátky (Czech town)[2]
Alternative designations	1997 SK1 · 1991 FF2
Minor planet category	main-belt · (middle)[3] background
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	26.13 yr (9,543 days)
Aphelion	2.8575 AU
Perihelion	2.4047 AU
Semi-major axis	2.6311 AU
Eccentricity	0.0860
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.27 yr (1,559 days)
Mean anomaly	100.11°
Mean motion	0° 13m 51.24s / day
Inclination	3.8704°
Longitude of ascending node	338.42°
Argument of perihelion	158.25°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	4.040±0.831 km[4][5] 4.88 km (calculated)[3]
Synodic rotation period	21.7079±0.0320 h[6] 21.7277±0.0320 h[6]
Geometric albedo	0.10 (assumed)[3] 0.226±0.100[4][5]
Spectral type	S[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.2[1][4] · 14.225±0.009 (R)[6] · 14.226±0.005 (R)[6] · 14.43±0.19[7] · 14.67[3]

Classification and orbit

Počátky is a stony S-type asteroid, that orbits the Sun in the middle main-belt at a distance of 2.4–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,559 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] A first precovery was taken at ESO's La Silla Observatory in 1991, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 6 years prior to its discovery.^[8]

Physical characteristics

Two rotational lightcurves for this asteroid were obtained from photometric observations made at the U.S Palomar Transient Factory, California, in August 2010 and February 2012. The lightcurves gave a rotation period of 21.7277±0.0320 and 21.7079±0.0320 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.57 and 0.68 in magnitude, respectively (U=2/2).^[6]

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Počátky measures 4.0 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.23,^[4][5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes an untypically low albedo for stony asteroids of 0.10, and thus calculates a larger diameter of 4.9 kilometers.^[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named after the south Bohemian town of Počátky, Czech Republic. It is the birthplace of the discoverer Miloš Tichý.^[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 11 November 2000 (M.P.C. 41572).^[9]

References

1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 14974 Pocatky (1997 SK1)" (2017-05-05 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
2. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(14974) Počátky". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (14974) Počátky. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 819. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_9074. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. "LCDB Data for (14974) Pocatky". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 17 May 2016.
4. 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. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
5. Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
6. Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
7. 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. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
8. "14974 Pocatky (1997 SK1)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
9. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 May 2016.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (10001)-(15000) – Minor Planet Center
• 14974 Počátky at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 14974 Počátky at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters