3074 Popov, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous Nysian

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 in diameter. It was discovered on 24 December 1979, by Soviet–Russian astronomer

Lyudmila Zhuravleva Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva (, ; born 22 May 1946) is a Soviet Union, Soviet, Russian and Ukraine, Ukrainian astronomer, who worked at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, where she discovered 213 minor planets. She also serves a ...

at the

Crimean Astrophysical Observatory The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO, obs. code: 095) is located at Nauchnij research campus, near the Central Crimean city of Bakhchysarai, on the Crimean peninsula. CrAO is often called simply by its location and campus name ...

in Nauchnyj on the Crimean peninsula. The

B-type asteroid B-type asteroids are a relatively uncommon type of carbonaceous asteroid, falling into the wider C-type asteroid#C-group asteroids, C-group; the 'B' indicates these objects are spectrally blue. In the asteroid population, B-class objects can be f ...

has an unknown

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 ...

. It was named after Russian physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov, an early

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

pioneer in Russia.

Orbit and classification

''Popov'' is a member of the carbonaceous subgroup of the Nysa family (), a group of asteroids in the inner main-belt not far from the

Kirkwood gap A Kirkwood gap is a gap or dip in the distribution of the semi-major axes (or equivalently of the orbital periods) of the orbits of main-belt asteroids. They correspond to the locations of orbital resonances with Jupiter. The gaps were first n ...

at 2.5 AU, a depleted zone where a 3:1 orbital resonance with the orbit of Jupiter exists. The Nysian group is named after its largest member 44 Nysa. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,307 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 2.34 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 0.11 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 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 asteroid was first observed as at the

Purple Mountain Observatory The Purple Mountain Observatory (), also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing. The observatory is responsible for calculating the official Chinese calen ...

in October 1964. 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 observations as at Crimea–Nauchnij in December 1975, or four years prior to its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, ''Popov'' is a

, which have a "brighter" surface than the common carbonaceous C-types.

Diameter and albedo

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 ...

, ''Popov'' measures 9.875 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 0.070.

Rotation period

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 ''Popov'' has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's

, shape and

poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

remain unknown.

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 physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov (1859–1906), who is considered to be the inventor of radio in his homeland and in eastern European countries. 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 31 May 1988 (). The lunar crater '' Popov'' was also named in his honor.

References

External links

Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
query form

)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books

– Minor Planet Center * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Popov 003074 Discoveries by Lyudmila Zhuravleva Named minor planets 003074 19791224