.png) Lightcurve-based 3D-model ofRutherfordia | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 4 November 1932 |
| Designations | |
| (1249) Rutherfordia | |
Named after | Rutherford[2] (inner suburb ofNew York City) |
| 1932 VB · 1925 SF 1942 XV | |
| main-belt · (inner) Flora[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 84.98 yr (31,040 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.3947AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0534 AU |
| 2.2240 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0767 |
| 3.32yr (1,211 days) | |
| 150.14° | |
| 0° 17m 49.92s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.8756° |
| 259.00° | |
| 223.37° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 12.41±0.8 km[5] 13.063±0.097 km[6] 14.060±0.069 km[7] 15.77±0.69 km[8] |
| 18.20±0.01h[9] 18.220±0.005 h[10] 18.24 h[9] 18.242±0.001 h[11] | |
| 0.172±0.017[8] 0.2193±0.0240[7] 0.251±0.058[6] 0.2778±0.038[5] | |
| Tholen =S[1][3] B–V = 0.883[1] U–B = 0.484[1] | |
| 10.88±0.28[12] · 11.54[1][3][5][7][8] | |
1249 Rutherfordia, provisional designation1932 VB, is an elongated, stony Florianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. Discovered byKarl Reinmuth atHeidelberg Observatory in 1932, the asteroid was named afterRutherford, New Jersey a suburb of New York City, United States.[13]
Rutherfordia was discovered on 4 November 1932, by German astronomerKarl Reinmuth at theHeidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany.[13] On 29 November 1932, it was independently discovered by Belgian astronomerEugène Delporte at theUccle Observatory in Belgium.[2] TheMinor Planet Center only recognizes the first discoverer.[13]
Rutherfordia is a member of theFlora family (402),[3][4] a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[14] It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,211 days;semi-major axis of 2.22 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.08 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The asteroid was first observed as1925 SF atSimeiz Observatory in September 1925. The body'sobservation arc begins at Heidelberg on 22 November 1932, or three weeks after its official discovery observation.[13]
In theTholen classification,Rutherfordia is anS-type asteroid,[1][3] as is the overallspectral type of theFlora family.[14]: 23
Several rotationallightcurves ofRutherfordia have been obtained from photometric observations since 2001.[9][10][11] The so-far best-rated lightcurve with arotation period of 18.242 hours and a brightness amplitude of 0.71magnitude, was measured by the Spanish amateur astronomer group OBAS in December 2015 (U=3).[3][11] The asteroid's elongated shape, indicated by its high brightness amplitude has previously been confirmed by physical modelling(see below).
In 2013, an international study modeled a lightcurve from various data sources including the Uppsala Asteroid Photometric Catalogue and thePalomar Transient Factory survey. The lightcurve gave a concurring period of 18.2183 hours and allowed for the determination of two spin axis of (32.0°, 74.0°) and (197.0°, 65.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[15]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Rutherfordia measures between 12.41 and 15.77 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.172 and 0.2778.[5][6][7][8]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.2778 and a diameter of 12.41 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.54.[3]
Several sources erroneously attributed the naming of this asteroid to famous New Zealand-born British physicistErnest Rutherford (1871–1937).[2] Thisminor planet, however, was named after the city ofRutherford, New Jersey, which is aninner suburb of metropolitanNew York City. The naming was proposed by Irving Meyer and endorsed by German astronomerGustav Stracke who mentioned on a postcard in February 1937, that his American college, Meyer, who himself did not discover any asteroids, requested the naming after the city of Rutherford, where a private observatory was located at the time.
