1059 Mussorgskia, provisional designation , is a background

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

from the central regions of the

asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 19 July 1925, by Soviet astronomer Vladimir Albitsky at the

Simeiz Observatory Simeiz Observatory (also spelled Simeis or Simeïs) was an astronomy research observatory until the mid-1950s. It is located on Mount Koshka, Crimea, by the town of Simeiz. Part of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, it is currently used fo ...

on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for Russian composer

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

. The X- or

C-type asteroid C-type (carbonaceous ) asteroids are the most common variety, forming around 75% of known asteroids. They are volatile-rich and distinguished by a very low albedo because their composition includes a large amount of carbon, in addition to rocks ...

has a

rotation period In astronomy, the rotation period or spin period of a celestial object (e.g., star, planet, moon, asteroid) has two definitions. The first one corresponds to the '' sidereal rotation period'' (or ''sidereal day''), i.e., the time that the objec ...

of 5.636 hours.

Orbit and classification

''Mussorgskia'' is a non-

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,567 days;

semi-major axis In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter: a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the two most widely separated points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis (major semiaxis) is the longe ...

of 2.64 AU). Its orbit has an

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.19 and an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

of 10 ° with respect to the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth's orbit, Earth around the Sun. It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making. Fr ...

. The asteroid was first observed as at Simeiz in May 1916. The body's

observation arc In observational astronomy, the observation arc (or arc length) of a Solar System body is the time period between its earliest and latest observations, used for tracing the body's path. It is usually given in days or years. The term is mostly use ...

begins as at

Heidelberg Observatory Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

in April 1920, or more than 5 years prior to its official discovery observation at Simeiz.

Physical characteristics

''Mussorgskia'' has been characterized as a common

X-type asteroid The X-group of asteroids collects together several types with similar spectra, but probably quite different compositions. Tholen classification In the Tholen classification, the X-group consists of the following types: * E-type – with high ...

by Pan-STARRS photometric survey. It is also characterized as a carbonaceous

in the SDSS-MFB (Masi Foglia Binzel) taxonomy.

Rotation period

In May 2002, two rotational

lightcurve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph (discrete mathematics), graph of the Radiance, light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude (astronomy), magnitude of light received on the ''y''-axis ...

s of ''Mussorgskia'' were obtained from photometric observations by Stephen Brincat at the

Flarestar Observatory Flarestar Observatory ( obs. code: 171) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated and managed by astronomer and AAVSO-member Stephen M. Brincat. It is located near San Ġwann on the island country of Malta. The observatory's principal i ...

in Malta and by French amateur astronomer René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a

of 5.519 and 5.6362 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 and 0.21

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

, respectively (). The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' adopts a period of 5.636 hours and a brightness variation between 0.2 and 0.21 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the

NEOWISE Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) was a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009.. . WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and nu ...

mission of NASA's

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, List of observatory codes, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) was a NASA infrared astronomy Space observatory, space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009.. . WISE L ...

, ''Mussorgskia'' measures between 17.54 and 30.323 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an

albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...

between 0.1010 and 0.23. CALL assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and consequently calculates a larger diameter of 36.78 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.9.

Naming

This

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

was named after Russian composer

(1839–1881). The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

in November 1952 ().

Orbit and classification

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

Diameter and albedo

Naming

Notes

References

External links