_Abastumani.png) Shape model ofAbastumani from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | P. Shajn |
| Discovery site | Simeiz Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 October 1935 |
| Designations | |
| (1390) Abastumani | |
Named after | Abastumani (Georgian town)[2] |
| 1935 TA · 1926 GN 1929 UL · A907 GN A916 VA | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.80 yr (31,705 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.5547AU |
| Perihelion | 3.3166 AU |
| 3.4356 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0347 |
| 6.37yr (2,326 days) | |
| 290.65° | |
| 0° 9m 17.28s / day | |
| Inclination | 19.932° |
| 28.919° | |
| 332.76° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 95.849±2.283 km[6] 98.30±2.03 km[7] 101.58±2.3 km(IRAS:12)[8] 107.827±6.977 km[9] | |
| 17.100±0.005 h[10] | |
| 0.0264±0.0121[9] 0.0298±0.001(IRAS:12)[8] 0.033±0.002[6][7] | |
| 9.40[1][7][8][9][11] | |
1390 Abastumani (prov. designation:1935 TA) is a very large and darkbackground asteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt. It was discovered on 3 October 1935, by Russian astronomerPelageya Shajn at theSimeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.[3] The primitiveP-type asteroid has arotation period of 17.1 hours and measures approximately 101 kilometers (63 miles) in diameter. It was named for the Georgian town ofAbastumani.[2]
The dark and reddish asteroid is classified as a rareP-type asteroid in theTholen taxonomic scheme, of which only a few dozens bodies are currently known.[12] It orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.3–3.6 AU once every 6 years and 4 months (2,326 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.03 and aninclination of 20° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The first usedprecovery was taken atLowell Observatory in 1929, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 6 years prior to its discovery.[3]
Abastumani was discovered on 3 October 1935, by Soviet–Russian astronomerPelageya Shajn atSimeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.[3] On the same night, the asteroid was independently discovered by South African astronomerCyril Jackson at Johannesburg Observatory.[2] It was one of the last large-sized bodies discovered in the outer belt(also see1269 Rollandia and1902 Shaposhnikov, discovered in 1930 and 1972, respectively).
Thisminor planet is named after the spa town ofAbastumani located in theCaucasus Mountains ofGeorgia. It is now the place where the Abastuman Astronomical Observatory (119) is situated.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center in November 1952 (M.P.C. 838).[13]
In theTholen classification,Abastumani is a primitive, carbonaceousP-type asteroid, a commonspectral type in the outer main-belt and among theJupiter trojan population.[1]
In April 2002, a rotationallightcurve ofAbastumani was obtained fromphotometric observation by astronomerJohn Gross at the U.S.Sonoran Skies Observatory (G94) in Benson, Arizona. It gave arotation period of17.100±0.005 hours with a brightness variation of 0.15 inmagnitude (U=2).[10]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite, and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures between 98.3 and 107.8 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a very lowalbedo between 0.026 and 0.033.[7][8][9] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, i.e. a diameter of 101.5 kilometers and an albedo of 0.0298.[11]
