2518 Rutllant
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Torres |
| Discovery site | Cerro El Roble |
| Discovery date | 22 March 1974 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2518 Rutllant |
Named after |
Federico Alcina (astronomer)[2] |
|
1974 FG · 1974 HU 1978 NA3 | |
| main-belt · Flora [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 61.48 yr (22,457 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7077 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9095 AU |
| 2.3086 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1729 |
| 3.51 yr (1,281 days) | |
| 342.94° | |
| 0° 16m 51.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.9259° |
| 205.58° | |
| 38.663° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions |
3.162±0.211 km[4] 5.93 km (calculated)[3] |
| 3.651±0.001 h[5] | |
|
0.7709±0.0492[4] 0.24 (assumed)[3] | |
| S [3] | |
|
13.3[1][3] 13.4[4] 13.69±0.32[6] | |
|
| |
2518 Rutllant, provisional designation 1974 FG, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Chilean astronomer Carlos Torres at the Cerro El Roble Station of the National Astronomical Observatory in Chile, on 22 March 1974.[7]
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,281 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 6 degrees from the plane of the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was taken at Goethe Link Observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 20 years prior to its discovery.[7]
A rotational light-curve was obtained by American astronomer Brian Warner at the U.S. Palmer Divide Observatory (716), Colorado, in October 2010. The light-curve gave a well-defined period of 3.651±0.001 hours with a relatively low brightness variation of 0.12 in magnitude (U=3).[5] According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid has an outstandingly high albedo of 0.77 with a diameter of 3.2 kilometer,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes an albedo of 0.24, derived from the Flora family's largest member and namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora. Consequently, CALL calculates a much larger diameter of 5.9 kilometer, as the lower the albedo (reflectivity), the larger the body's diameter at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).[3]
The minor planet was named in memory of Spanish-born astronomer Federico Rutllant Alcina (1904–1971), director of the Chilean National Astronomical Observatory (OAN), and professor of mathematics at Federico Santa María Technical University. He was instrumental for the development of Chilean astronomy, and responsible for a number of critical agreements and decisions, such as moving OAN from Lo Espejo to its current location, for the installment of the Maipú Radio Observatory upon an agreement with UF, for another agreement with UChicago, University of Texas, and later AURA — that resulted in the setup of the CTIO, as well as for an agreement with the former Soviet Academy of Sciences that lead to the building of the Cerro El Roble Station, where this minor planet was discovered.[2] Naming citation was published on 26 March 1986 (M.P.C. 10545).[8]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2518 Rutllant (1974 FG)" (2016-04-16 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2518) Rutllant. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 205–206. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (2518) Rutllant". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407
. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 17 May 2016. - 1 2 Warner, Brian D. (April 2011). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: 2010 September-December". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 38 (2): 82–86. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38...82W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ↑ Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- 1 2 "2518 Rutllant (1974 FG)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
External links
- The Palmer Divide Observatory: Tour given by Brian Warner on YouTube (time 4:03 min.)
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 2518 Rutllant at the JPL Small-Body Database
