| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Delporte |
| Discovery site | Uccle Obs. |
| Discovery date | 23 March 1933 |
| Designations | |
| (1261) Legia | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈliːdʒiə/ |
Named after | Latin name forLiège[2] (Belgian city) |
| 1933 FB · 1938 CS 1938 DH · 1944 FD 1966 DG | |
| main-belt · (outer) Themis[3] · background[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 84.28 yr (30,785 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.6992AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5758 AU |
| 3.1375 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1790 |
| 5.56yr (2,030 days) | |
| 57.530° | |
| 0° 10m 38.28s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.4274° |
| 67.282° | |
| 104.64° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 31.20 km(derived)[3] 31.26±11.50 km[5] 31.28±1.3 km[6] 32.13±0.66 km[7] 32.576±0.126 km[8] 35.324±0.345 km[9] 36.56±0.35 km[10] |
| 8.693±0.007h[11] | |
| 0.048±0.009[10] 0.0564±0.0127[9] 0.06±0.05[5] 0.0601(derived)[3] 0.067±0.004[8] 0.070±0.003[7] 0.0719±0.006[6] | |
| P[9] · S(assumed)[3] | |
| 11.00[6][7][9] · 11.10[10] · 11.12±0.72[12] · 11.2[1][3] · 11.29[5] | |
1261 Legia, provisional designation1933 FB, is a dark Themistianasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 32 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 March 1933, by astronomerEugène Delporte at theRoyal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle.[13] The asteroid was named for the Belgian city ofLiège (Luke).[2]
Legia is a Themistian asteroid that belongs to theThemis family (602), a very largefamily of carbonaceous asteroids, named after24 Themis.[3] It is, however, a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[4]
It orbits the Sun in theouter asteroid belt at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,030 days;semi-major axis of 3.14 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.18 and aninclination of 2° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The body'sobservation arc begins at Uccle in March 1933, five days after its official discovery observation.[13]
Legia has been characterized as a primitive and reddishP-type asteroid by theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).[9]
In January 2005, a rotationallightcurve ofLegia was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomerLaurent Bernasconi. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 8.693 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.13magnitude (U=2+).[11]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope,Legia measures between 31.26 and 36.56 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.048 and 0.0719.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0601 and a diameter of 31.20 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.2.[3]
Thisminor planet was named "Legia", the Latin name of the Belgian city ofLiège (Luik). The official naming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 116).[2]
