| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | G. Reiss |
| Discovery site | Algiers Obs. |
| Discovery date | 5 December 1931 |
| Designations | |
| (1213) Algeria | |
Named after | Algeria(country)[2] |
| 1931 XD | |
| main-belt · (outer)[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 84.53 yr (30,873 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.5408AU |
| Perihelion | 2.7442 AU |
| 3.1425 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1267 |
| 5.57yr (2,035 days) | |
| 168.11° | |
| 0° 10m 36.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 13.064° |
| 271.54° | |
| 108.60° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 29.175±0.251[4] 30.189±0.239 km[5] 30.6±3.1 km[6] 31±3 km[7] 33.08 km(derived)[3] 33.20±4.7 km(IRAS:3)[8] 33.51±0.78 km[9] 34.46±0.67 km[10] |
| 16h[11] | |
| 0.057±0.010[9][4] 0.0586(derived)[3] 0.06±0.01[7] 0.07±0.01[6] 0.076±0.003[10] 0.0767±0.027(IRAS:3)[8] 0.0934±0.0106[5] | |
| C[3] | |
| 10.8[5][8][10] 11.1[1][3][6][7][9] 11.33±0.30[12] | |
1213 Algeria (provisional designation1931 XD) is a carbonaceousasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 32 kilometers in diameter. Discovered byGuy Reiss atAlgiers Observatory in 1931, it was named after the North African country ofAlgeria.
Algeria was discovered by French astronomerGuy Reiss at the North AfricanAlgiers Observatory on 5 December 1931.[13] Three nights later, the body was independently discovered by Belgian–American astronomerGeorge Van Biesbroeck at the U.S.Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin.[2]
A firstprecovery was taken at Yerkes Observatory, extending the Algeria'sobservation arc by just 16 days prior to its official discovery observation.[13]
The dark asteroid orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,035 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 13° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
A rotationallightcurve of Algeria was obtained from photometric observations made by French amateur astronomerClaudine Rinner in August 2002. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 16 hours with a brightness variation of 0.19magnitude (U=2).[11]
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite, and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission, Algeria measures between 29.2 and 34.5 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo in the range of 0.057 to 0.093.[4][5][7][9][8][10]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.059 and a diameter of 33.1 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 11.1, and characterizes it as aC-type asteroid.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in honour of the North African countryAlgeria, location of the discovering observatory and a French colony at the time. The officialnaming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 112).[2]
