1412 Lagrula, provisional designation , is an

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 inner 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 7 or 23 kilometers in diameter, depending on the body's divergent reflectivity measurements. It was discovered on 19 January 1937, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the North African

Algiers Observatory The Algiers Observatory was built in the late 19th century in the Algiers suburb of Bouzaréah, Algeria, North Africa. It participated in the Astrographic Catalogue project, taking the zone between -2 and +4 degrees to expose 1,260 plates betwe ...

in Algeria. It was later named after French astronomer Philippe Lagrula.

Classification and orbit

''Lagrula'' is a presumed member of the

Flora family The Flora family (''adj. Florian''; ; also known as the Ariadne family) is a prominent family of stony asteroids located in the inner region of the asteroid belt. It is one of the largest families with more than 13,000 known members, or approx ...

, a large group of stony S-type asteroids in the inner main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,204 days). 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 0.11 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 5 ° 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 ...

. First identified as at

Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark ...

in 1929, 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 ...

was extended by 8 years prior to its official discovery observation at Algiers.

Physical characteristics

Photometry

During March and April 2013, photometric observations of ''Lagrula'' were made over ten nights by Italian astronomer Giovanni Casalnuovo at Eurac Observatory () in Bolzano, Italy.

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 ...

analysis gave 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 5.9176 hours and a brightness variation of 0.28

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 ...

(). In January 2016, a more refined period of 5.882 hours with an amplitude of 0.44 magnitude was obtained from a bimodal lightcurve by Spanish astronomer group OBAS, ''Observadores de Asteroides'' ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by 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 ...

with its subsequent

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, ''Lagrula'' measures 7.8 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 ...

of 0.318 and 0.36, respectively (most recent results only). However, the ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a carbonaceous albedo of 0.058 and calculates a diameter of 23.98 kilometers, which is in agreement with Giovanni Casalnuovo, who published a diameter of and an albedo of 0.06 using an absolute magnitude of 11.81. Casalnuovo assumed a C-type, rather than an S-type, because he found an average V–R

color index In astronomy, the color index is a simple numerical expression that determines the color of an object, which in the case of a star gives its temperature. The lower the color index, the more blue (or hotter) the object is. Conversely, the larg ...

of magnitude.

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 French astronomer

Joanny-Philippe Lagrula Joanny-Philippe Lagrula (1870–1941) was a French astronomer. He was sometimes referred to as Philippe Lagrula. In 1901, he wrote his thesis at the University of Lyon. At the time, occultations of the Pleiades by the Moon were important for m ...

(1870–1941), discoverer of the minor planet

775 Lumière 775 Lumière is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. The apparent magnitude is 10.40. The diameter is 33.58 kilometers. Its rotational period is 6.103 hours, and the albedo is .108. The name honors Auguste and Louis Lumiere and the company makin ...

and director of the

Quito Astronomical Observatory The Quito Astronomical Observatory () is a research institute of EPN, the National Polytechnic School in Quito, Ecuador. Its major research fields are astronomy and atmospheric physics. The Quito Astronomical Observatory is one of the oldest ob ...

and

. Naming citation was neither published 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 ...

'' nor in the ''

Minor Planet Circulars 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. Functio ...

'', but researched and compiled by astronomer and author Lutz D. Schmadel, based on his private communications with his colleges ().

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:Lagrula 001412 Discoveries by Louis Boyer (astronomer) Named minor planets 19370119