1954 Kukarkin

1954 Kukarkin
Discovery [1]
Discovered by P. F. Shajn
Discovery site Simeiz Obs.
Discovery date 15 August 1952
Designations
MPC designation 1954 Kukarkin
Named after
 Boris Kukarkin
(astronomer)[2]
1952 PH · 1957 QB
main-belt · (outer)[3]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 63.67 yr (23,254 days)
Aphelion 3.8557 AU
Perihelion 2.0200 AU
2.9379 AU
Eccentricity 0.3124
5.04 yr (1,839 days)
245.95°
0° 11m 44.52s / day
Inclination 14.787°
278.06°
70.269°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 13.659±0.309 km[4]
30.59 km (calculated)[3]
136.40±0.03 h[5]
0.2608±0.0155[4]
0.057 (assumed)[3]
C [3]
11.3[1][3]
11.4[4]

    1954 Kukarkin, provisional designation 1952 PH, is an eccentric, carbonaceous asteroid and slow rotator from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 August 1952, by Russian female astronomer Pelageya Shajn at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.[6]

    The eccentric asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–3.9 AU once every 5.05 years (1,839 days). Its orbit has a notably high eccentricity of 0.31 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] No precoveries were taken prior to its discovery.[6]

    The asteroid is a slow rotator, with a long period of 136.40±0.03 hours, measured at Los Algarrobos Observatory, Uruguay (I38) during a favorable opposition in 2012. The well-defined rotational light-curve had brightness variation of 0.8±0.05 in magnitude (U=3-).[5]

    While observations taken by NEOWISE gave an albedo of 0.2608±0.0155 and a diameter of 13.659±0.309 kilometers,[4] the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous C-type asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a significantly larger diameter of 30.6 kilometers, as the lower the albedo, the larger the body's diameter at a constant absolute magnitude.[3]

    The asteroid is named after stellar astronomer Boris Vasilyevich Kukarkin (1909–1977), a well-known specialist for variable stars, the structure of stellar systems, and professor at Moscow State University. Kukarkin started and edited the General Catalogue of Variable Stars that was first published in 1948. He also served as vice-president of the Astronomical Council of Academy of Sciences of the USSR as well as of the International Astronomical Union and was the president of its Commission 27.[2] Naming citation was published on 1 June 1980 (M.P.C. 5358).[7]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1954 Kukarkin (1952 PH)" (2016-04-16 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
    2. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1954) Kukarkin. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 157. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (1954) Kukarkin". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 18 May 2016.
    4. 1 2 3 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:1109.6407Freely accessible. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
    5. 1 2 Alvarez, Eduardo Manuel (January 2013). "Period Determination for the Slow Rotator 1954 Kukarkin". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 40 (1): 29–30. Bibcode:2013MPBu...40...29A. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
    6. 1 2 "1954 Kukarkin (1952 PH)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
    7. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 May 2016.

    External links


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