 Duponta seen at approx. 16apmag in 2009 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Boyer |
| Discovery site | Algiers Obs. |
| Discovery date | 4 December 1934 |
| Designations | |
| (1338) Duponta | |
| Pronunciation | /djuːˈpɒntə/ |
Named after | Marc Dupont (discoverer's nephew)[2] |
| 1934 XA | |
| main-belt · (inner) Flora[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 82.42 yr (30,104 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5179AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0108 AU |
| 2.2644 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1120 |
| 3.41yr (1,245 days) | |
| 102.88° | |
| 0° 17m 21.48s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.8170° |
| 325.63° | |
| 110.63° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1(P: 17.57;D: 1.77 km)[3][5][6] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 7.470±0.114 km[7] 7.68±0.06(derived)[6] 7.875±0.062 km[8] 7.88 km(taken)[3] 7.885 km[9] |
| 3.85449±0.0003h[10][a] 3.85453±0.00009 h[5] 3.85453±0.0003 h[10][b] | |
| 0.2159[3][9] 0.2286±0.0274[8] 0.251±0.040[7] | |
| S(assumed)[3] | |
| 12.30±0.03(R)[10] · 12.39±0.2(R)[10] · 12.6[6] · 12.7[1] · 12.75[8] · 12.798±0.064[3][9] | |
1338 Duponta, provisional designation1934 XA, is a stony Florianasteroid and synchronousbinary system from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7.8 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 4 December 1934, by French astronomerLouis Boyer at theAlgiers Observatory in Algeria, North Africa.[11] It was named after the discoverer's nephew, Marc Dupont.[2] The asteroid's unnamedminor-planet moon was discovered in March 2007. It measures approximately 1.77 kilometers in diameter and has anorbital period of 17.57 hours.[5]
Duponta is a member of theFlora family (402),[3][4] a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main belt.[12]: 23 It orbits the Sun in theinner main belt at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,245 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.11 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Algiers in 1934.[11]
Duponta is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid, which agrees with the Flora family's overallspectral type.[3][12]: 23
In March 2007, a rotationallightcurve ofDuponta was obtained from photometric observations by a collaboration of Czech (Ondřejov Observatory), Slovak (Modra Observatory), Australian and American astronomers. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 3.85453 hours with a brightness variation of 0.23magnitude (U=3).[5] Follow-up observations byPetr Pravec in 2007 and 2010, gave a concurring period of 3.85449 and 3.85453 hours with an amplitude of 0.26 and 0.23 magnitude, respectively (U=3/3).[10][a][b]
During the photometric observations in 2007, it was also revealed thatDuponta is a synchronousbinary asteroid with aminor-planet moon orbiting it every 17.57(8) hours. Based on mutual eclipse andoccultation events with a magnitude between 0.06 and 0.12, the binary system has a mean-diameter ratio of0.23±0.02, which translates into a diameter of 1.77 kilometers for the satellite. It has an estimatedsemi-major axis of 14 kilometers.[3][5][6]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Duponta measures 7.470 and 7.875 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.2286 and 0.251, respectively.[7][8]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts Petr Pravec's revised WISE data, that is, an albedo of 0.2159 and a diameter of 7.885 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.798.[3][9]
Thisminor planet was named by the discoverer after his nephew Marc Dupont. The official naming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 122).[2]
