1052 Belgica
Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | E. Delporte |
Discovery site | Uccle – Belgium |
Discovery date | 15 November 1925 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | 1052 Belgica |
Named after
|
Belgium (country)[2] |
1925 VD · 1965 UO1 A908 TB |
|
main-belt · Flora [3] | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 107.20 yr (39,153 days) |
Aphelion | 2.5567 AU |
Perihelion | 1.9157 AU |
2.2362 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.1433 |
3.34 yr (1,221 days) | |
303.86° | |
Inclination | 4.6954° |
99.643° | |
297.39° | |
Known satellites | 1 [4][5] |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 10.406±0.077 km[6] 10.94 km (derived)[3] |
2.7097±0.0001 h[4][5] 2.70933±0.0003 h[7] |
|
0.2734±0.0736[6] 0.20 (assumed)[3] |
|
B–V = 0.900 U–B = 0.540 S (Tholen) S (SMASS) S [3] |
|
11.97[1] | |
1052 Belgica, provisional designation 1925 VD, is a stony binary[4] asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 11 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, on 15 November 1925.[8]
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,221 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.14 and is tilted by 5 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. The body's surface has an albedo of 0.27, according to the NEOWISE mission of the U.S. Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,[6] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a somewhat more moderate value of 0.20.[3]
In 2012, photometric light-curve observations from several observatories in Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain and the United States rendered a rotation period of 2.7097±0.0001 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.08 in magnitude, indicating a nearly spherical shape for the asteroid. The observations also revealed, that it is a binary system with an asteroid moon, about 36% the diameter of its primary, orbiting it every 47.26±0.02 hours.[5]
The minor planet was named in honor of the state of Belgium and the first minor planet to be discovered Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, after which the minor planet 1276 Ucclia was named. The name "Belgica" was suggested during the height of World War I by American astronomer Joel Hastings Metcalf, but the Director of the German Astronomisches Rechen-Institut in Berlin, Fritz Cohn, rejected the proposal based on political considerations, as Belgium was occupied by German troops at the time.[2] In his Dictionary of Minor Planets Names, astronomer Lutz Schmadel describes this piece of history involving minor planet names in detail.[9]
References
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- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 1052 Belgica at the JPL Small-Body Database
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