| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. Tom Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 26 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (10244) Thüringer Wald | |
Named after | Thuringian Forest[1] (German mountain range) |
| 4668 P-L · 1990 TB14 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (inner) Vesta[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 57.42yr (20,973 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.6482AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1598 AU |
| 2.4040 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1016 |
| 3.73 yr (1,361 d) | |
| 109.85° | |
| 0° 15m 51.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.4739° |
| 28.159° | |
| 27.932° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 3.346±0.207 km[4] | |
| 0.190±0.054[4] | |
| 14.6[2] | |
10244 Thüringer Wald, provisional designation4668 P-L, is a Vestianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 3.3 kilometers (2.1 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 26 September 1960, byIngrid andCornelis van Houten at Leiden, andTom Gehrels atPalomar Observatory in California, United States. The asteroid was named after theThuringian Forest, a German mountain range.[1]
Thüringer Wald is a member of theVesta family (401).[3] Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulateeucrites (HED meteorites) and are thought to have originated deep within4 Vesta's crust, possibly from theRheasilvia crater, a largeimpact crater on its southern hemisphere near the South pole, formed as a result of a subcatastrophic collision. Vesta is the main belt'ssecond-largest andsecond-most-massive body afterCeres.[5][6]
Thüringer Wald orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,361 days;semi-major axis of 2.4 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.10 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[2] Itsobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Palomar in September 1960.[1]
The asteroid'sspectral type is unknown.[2] Vestian asteroids typically have aV- orS-type,[5] withalbedos higher than measured by theWISE telescope(see below). It has anabsolute magnitude of 14.6. As of 2018, no rotationallightcurve ofThüringer Wald has been obtained fromphotometric observations. The body'srotation period,pole and shape remain unknown.[2]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope,Thüringer Wald measures 3.346 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.190.[4]
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands forPalomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory andLeiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar'sSamuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped thephotographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory whereastrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery ofseveral thousand asteroid discoveries.[7]
Thisminor planet was named after theThuringian Forest (German:Thüringer Wald), a mountain range in central Germany.[1] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 May 2003 (M.P.C. 48390).[8]
