_Rhodesia.png) Shape model ofRhodesia from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Jackson |
| Discovery site | Johannesburg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 June 1931 |
| Designations | |
| (1197) Rhodesia | |
Named after | Rhodesia (former state in southern Africa) |
| 1931 LD · 1925 AC 1970 HL | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (outer) background[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 93.36yr (34,098 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.5511AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2215 AU |
| 2.8863 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2303 |
| 4.90 yr (1,791 d) | |
| 323.09° | |
| 0° 12m 3.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.985° |
| 255.74° | |
| 277.16° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 48.0 km × 48.0 km[3] |
| 47.50±3.4 km[5] 47.741±0.163 km[6][7] 48.92±0.98 km[8] | |
| 16.060±0.006 h[9] | |
| 0.070[6] 0.075[8] 0.0783[5] | |
| B–V =0.740±030[2][3] C(assumed)[10] | |
| 10.00[5][8] 10.18[6][10][11][12] 10.2[1][2] | |
1197 Rhodesia, provisional designation1931 LD, is a dark backgroundasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 June 1931, by South African astronomerCyril Jackson at theUnion Observatory in Johannesburg.[1] The likelyC-type asteroid has arotation period of 16.1 hours.[10] It was named forRhodesia, a former British colony and unrecognised state, which is nowZimbabwe.[13]
Rhodesia is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population.[3][4] It orbits the Sun in theouter asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.6 AU once every 4 years and 11 months (1,791 days;semi-major axis of 2.89 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.23 and aninclination of 13° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The asteroid was first observed atHeidelberg Observatory in January 1925. The body'sobservation arc also begins at Heidelberg in August 1942, more than 11 years after its official discovery observation at Johannesburg.[1]
Thisminor planet was named for the former British colony and unrecognized state ofRhodesia (1965–1979) in southern Africa, what is nowZimbabwe. The official naming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 111).[13]
Rhodesia is an assumedC-type asteroid which agrees with itsalbedo and its location in the main belt.[10] It has a B–Vcolor index of 0.740.[2][3]
In December 2017, a rotationallightcurve ofRhodesia was obtained fromphotometric observations by Tom Polakis at the Command Module Observatory (V02) in Tempe, Arizona. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of16.060±0.006 hours with a brightness variation of 0.27magnitude (U=3-).[9] This result refines previous period determinations of 15.89 and 16.062 hours byRichard Binzel (1984) andLaurent Bernasconi (2005), respectively (U=2/2).[12][14]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Rhodesia measures between 46.43 and 52.276 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.0548 and 0.0783.[5][6][7][8][11][15][16] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0666 and a diameter of 47.40 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 10.18.[10] In August 2015, anoccultation byRhodesia determined a cross-section of 48.0 × 48.0 kilometers (no fit).[3]
