3047 Goethe, provisional designation , is a bright 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 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer couple

Ingrid Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ingrid Burley (born 1986), rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Ingrid (record label), also an artist collective * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cy ...

and

Cornelis van Houten Cornelis Johannes "Kees" van Houten (18 February 1920 – 24 August 2002) was a Dutch astronomer. Early life and education Born in The Hague, he spent his entire career at Leiden University except for a brief period (1954–1956) as a research a ...

on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer

Tom Gehrels Anton M.J. "Tom" Gehrels (February 21, 1925 – July 11, 2011) was a Dutch–American astronomer, Professor of Planetary Sciences, and Astronomer at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Biography Youth and education Gehrels was born at Ha ...

at the

Palomar Observatory The Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in the Palomar Mountains of San Diego County, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...

in California, United States. The asteroid was named after German poet

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Orbit and classification

''Goethe'' 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 of the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.6–2.7 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,569 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 a low

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 0.03 and a low

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 2 ° 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 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 with its official discovery observation at Palomar in September 1960. In May 2156, it will pass at from the asteroid 29 Amphitrite at a relative velocity of 1.66 km/s.

Physical characteristics

According to the survey carried out by 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 ...

, ''Goethe'' measures 5.846 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a notably high

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 0.362. As of 2018, no 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 ''Goethe'' has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's

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 ...

, pole and shape remain unknown.

Palomar–Leiden survey

The

survey designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...

"P-L" stands for ''Palomar–Leiden'', named after Palomar Observatory and

Leiden Observatory Leiden Observatory () is an astronomical institute of Leiden University, in the Netherlands. Established in 1633 to house the quadrant of Willebrord Snellius, it is the oldest operating university observatory in the world, with the only older sti ...

, which collaborated on the fruitful

Palomar–Leiden survey The Palomar–Leiden survey (PLS) was a successful astronomical survey to study faint minor planets in a collaboration between the U.S Palomar Observatory and the Dutch Leiden Observatory, and resulted in the discovery of thousands of asteroids ...

in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's

Samuel Oschin telescope The Samuel Oschin telescope (), also called the Oschin Schmidt, is a Schmidt camera at the Palomar Observatory in northern San Diego County, California, United States. It consists of a Schmidt corrector plate and a (f/2.5) mirror. The instrumen ...

(also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the

photographic plate Photographic plates preceded film as the primary medium for capturing images in photography. These plates, made of metal or glass and coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, were integral to early photographic processes such as heliography, d ...

s to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where

astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, th ...

was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand asteroid discoveries.

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 German poet and playwright

(1749-1832). The official naming citation 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 ...

on 29 September 1985 (). The Goethe Basin on Mercury was also named in his honor.

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:Goethe 003047 Discoveries by Cornelis Johannes van Houten Discoveries by Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld Discoveries by Tom Gehrels 6091 Named minor planets 3047 Goethe 19600924