| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Jackson |
| Discovery site | Johannesburg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 20 August 1935 |
| Designations | |
| (1474) Beira | |
Named after | Beira[2] (city in Mozambique) |
| 1935 QY · 1950 DQ | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 81.06 yr (29,606 d) |
| Aphelion | 4.0740AU |
| Perihelion | 1.3920 AU |
| 2.7330 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4907 |
| 4.52yr (1,650 days) | |
| 19.609° | |
| 0° 13m 5.16s / day | |
| Inclination | 26.683° |
| 323.50° | |
| 84.070° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.73 km(calculated)[4] 14.9±1.5 km[5] 15±2 km[6] 15.46±1.55 km[7] |
| 4.184±0.001h[8][9][a] 4.184±0.002 h[10] | |
| 0.06±0.01[6] 0.064±0.013[7] 0.07±0.01[5] 0.20(assumed)[4] | |
| Tholen =FX[1] SMASS =B[1][4] B–V = 0.620[1] U–B = 0.245[1] | |
| 12.66[1][4][5][6][7] | |
1474 Beira, provisional designation1935 QY, is a bright carbonaceousasteroid and largeMars-crosser on an eccentric orbit from theasteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 August 1935, by South African astronomerCyril Jackson at theUnion Observatory in Johannesburg.[3] The asteroid was named after the port city ofBeira in Mozambique.[2]
Beira is aMars-crossing asteroid, a dynamically unstable group between themain belt and thenear-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.4–4.1 AU once every 4 years and 6 months (1,650 days). Its orbit has a higheccentricity of 0.49 and aninclination of 27° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg in 1935.[3]
In theSMASS classification,Beira is a bright carbonaceousB-type asteroid, while in theTholen classification itsspectral type is ambiguous, closest to anF-type and somewhat similar to that of anX-type asteroid.[1]
Three rotationallightcurves ofBeira were obtained from photometric observations. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 4.184 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.15 and 0.24magnitude (U=3/3/3).[8][9][10][a]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Beira measures between 14.9 and 15.46 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a lowalbedo between 0.06 and 0.07.[5][6][7] Conversely, theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and consequently calculates a smaller diameter of 8.73 kilometers using anabsolute magnitude of 12.66.[4]
With a diameter close to 15 kilometers,Beira is larger than most sizeableMars-crossing asteroids such as1065 Amundsenia (9.75 km),1139 Atami (9.35 km),1011 Laodamia (7.39 km),1727 Mette (est 9 km),1131 Porzia (7.13 km),1235 Schorria (est. 9 km),985 Rosina (8.18 km)1310 Villigera (15.24 km), and1468 Zomba (7 km); but still smaller than the largest members of this dynamical group, namely,132 Aethra,323 Brucia,1508 Kemi,2204 Lyyli and512 Taurinensis, which are larger than 20 kilometers in diameter (in one or other given source).
Thisminor planet was named after the port city ofBeira in Mozambique.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center in April 1953 (M.P.C. 909).[11]
