1347 Patria, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous
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
background population of the central
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 32 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 6 November 1931, by Soviet astronomer
Grigory Neujmin
Grigory Nikolayevich Neujmin (; – 17 December 1946) was a Georgian–Russian astronomer, native of Tbilisi in Georgia (country), Georgia, and a discoverer of numerous minor planets as well as 6 periodic comet, periodic and a List of hyperbolic ...
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 the Latin word of
fatherland
A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nation ...
.
Orbit and classification
''Patria'' is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's
background population.
It orbits the Sun in the
central main-belt at a distance of 2.4–2.7
AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,506 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 2.57 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 0.07 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 12
° 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 identified 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 November 1898. 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 a few days later at
Vienna Observatory, almost 33 years prior to its official discovery observation at Simeiz.
Physical characteristics
''Patria'' is an assumed
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 ...
.
Rotation period
In October 2005, a first 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 ...
of ''Patria'' was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer
Laurent Bernasconi
This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth object, near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and Distant minor planet, distant ob ...
. Lightcurve analysis gave a slightly longer-than average
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 29.5 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.12
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 ...
().
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite
IRAS
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Infrarood Astronomische Satelliet'') (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a astronomical survey, survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 Janu ...
, 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 ...
, ''Patria'' measures between 30.72 and 34.98 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 0.03 and 0.0462.
The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' derives an albedo of 0.0506 and a diameter of 32.48 kilometers based on an
absolute magnitude of 11.3.
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 "Patria", the Latin word for native country or
fatherland
A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nation ...
. The official naming citation was mentioned in ''
The Names of the Minor Planets
Paul Herget (January 30, 1908 – August 27, 1981) was an American astronomer and director of the Cincinnati Observatory, who established the Minor Planet Center after World War II.
Career
Herget taught astronomy at the University of Cincinna ...
'' by
Paul Herget in 1955 ().
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
– Minor Planet Center
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patria
001347
Discoveries by Grigory Neujmin
Named minor planets
19311106