Remove ads
1551 Argelander, provisional designation 1938 DC1, is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 February 1938, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at the Turku Observatory in southwest Finland.[1] The likely S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 4.1 hours.[12] It was named after German astronomer Friedrich Argelander.[2]
_Argelander.png) Shape model of Argelander from its lightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Y. Väisälä |
| Discovery site | Turku Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 February 1938 |
| Designations | |
| (1551) Argelander | |
Named after | Friedrich Argelander[2] (German astronomer) |
| 1938 DC1 · 1930 BL 1940 XD · 1951 XG1 1953 GD1 · 1957 KR 1962 XP | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (inner) background[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 88.76 yr (32,418 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5539 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2350 AU |
| 2.3944 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0666 |
| 3.71 yr (1,353 d) | |
| 147.41° | |
| 0° 15m 57.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.7615° |
| 107.23° | |
| 233.60° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 9.19±0.27 km[6] 10.238±0.122 km[7][8] 10.50±0.50 km[9] 11.016±0.073 km[10] | |
| 4.063±0.006 h[11] | |
| 0.1940[10] 0.217[9] 0.222[7][8] 0.302[6] | |
| S (assumed)[12] | |
| 12.10[6] 12.20[1][3][7][9][10] | |
Argelander is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.[4][5] It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,353 days; semi-major axis of 2.39 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as 1930 BL at Heidelberg Observatory in January 1930, or 8 years prior to its official discovery observation at Turku.[1]
Remove ads
This minor planet was named after Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander (1799–1875), author of the famous Bonner Durchmusterung and 19th-century head of the ancient observatory at Turku and Bonn (520).[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 30 January 1964 (M.P.C. 2278).[13] The lunar crater Argelander is also named after him.[2]
Argelander is an assumed S-type asteroid.[12]
Rotation period and poles
In August 2017, a rotational lightcurve of Argelander was obtained from photometric observations at the Chilean Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory using the SARA South Telescope. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 4.063±0.006 hours and a brightness variation of 0.48 magnitude (U=2+).[11] In January 2012, astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory had also determined a period of 4.061±0.0023 with an amplitude of 0.41 magnitude (U=2).[14]
A modeled lightcurve using photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database was published in 2016. It gave a concurring period of 4.058350±0.000001 hours, as well as two spin axes at (3.0°, −81.0°) and (183.0°, −72.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[15]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Argelander measures between 9.2 and 11.0 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.19 and 0.30.[6][7][8][9][10] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 9.60 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.45.[12]
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads