4142 Dersu-Uzala
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4142 Dersu-Uzala, provisional designation ', is a Hungaria asteroid, sizable
Mars-crosser A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers numbered below 100000 are listed here. They include the two numbered Mars trojans 5261 Eureka and . Many databases, for i ...
and potentially slow rotator from the innermost region 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 by Czech astronomer Zdeňka Vávrová at Kleť Observatory on 28 May 1981. The rare
A-type asteroid A-type asteroids are relatively uncommon inner-belt asteroids that have a strong, broad 1 micrometre, μm olivine feature and a very reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.7 μm. They are thought to come from the completely differentiated Mantle (geo ...
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 140 hours. It was named after the Siberian trapper and hunter Dersu Uzala.


Orbit and characterization

''Dersu-Uzala'' is a member of the dynamical Hungaria group of asteroids, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.6–2.2  AU once every 2 years and 8 months (965 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 1.91 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 0.15 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 26 ° 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 ...
. As its orbit crosses that of
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
at 1.66 AU, it is also a Mars crossing asteroid. 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 first observation as ' at Crimea-Nauchnij in January 1970, or 11 years prior to its official discovery observation at Kleť Observatory.


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 Dersu Uzala, a Siberian trapper and hunter and friend of Russian writer Vladimir Arsenyev, who named the main character of his novel '' Dersu Uzala'' after him. The approved 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 6 February 1993 ().


Physical characteristics

In the
SMASS classification An asteroid spectral type is assigned to asteroids based on their reflectance spectrum, color, and sometimes albedo. These types are thought to correspond to an asteroid's surface composition. For small bodies that are not internally different ...
, ''Dersu-Uzala'' is an
A-type asteroid A-type asteroids are relatively uncommon inner-belt asteroids that have a strong, broad 1 micrometre, μm olivine feature and a very reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.7 μm. They are thought to come from the completely differentiated Mantle (geo ...
. It has also been characterized as an Srw-type, a subtype of the stony
S-type asteroid S-type (stony-type or silicaceous-type) asteroids are asteroids with a spectral type that is indicative of a siliceous (i.e. stony) mineralogical composition, hence the name. They have relatively high density. Approximately 17% of asteroids are ...
s.


Rotation period

In December 2006, a 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 ''Dersu-Uzala'' was obtained from photometric observations by American photometrist Brian Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado. Lightcurve 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 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.60
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 ...
(). Alternative observations gave a period of 71 and 71.2 hours, respectively.


Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese
Akari AKARI (ASTRO-F) was an infrared astronomy satellite developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, in cooperation with institutes of Europe and Korea. It was launched on 21 February 2006, at 21:28 UTC (06:28, 22 February JST) by M-V rocket ...
satellite and 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, ''Dersu-Uzala'' measures 6.01 and 6.34 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 0.164 and 0.30, respectively. The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.2 and calculates a diameter of 7.13 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.1.


Notes


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:Dersu-Uzala 004142 004142 Discoveries by Zdeňka Vávrová Named minor planets 004142 004142 19810528