| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | M. Itzigsohn |
| Discovery site | La Plata Obs. |
| Discovery date | 1 September 1951 |
| Designations | |
| (1608) Muñoz | |
Named after | F. A. Muñoz[2] (Argentine astronomer) |
| 1951 RZ · 1951 RK1 1961 UD · 1974 HH1 | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (inner) Flora[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 69.29yr (25,309 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5892AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8381 AU |
| 2.2137 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1697 |
| 3.29 yr (1,203 d) | |
| 212.24° | |
| 0° 17m 57.48s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.9436° |
| 356.96° | |
| 316.47° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.15±0.47 km[6] 6.529±0.583 km[7] 6.711±0.571 km[8] | |
| 5.3456±0.0007 h[5][9][a] | |
| 0.2654[10] 0.323[6] 0.403[7][11] | |
| S(assumed)[5] | |
| 12.60[7][10] 12.7[1][3][5] 12.90[6] | |
1608 Muñoz, provisional designation1951 RZ, is aFlora asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 September 1951, by Argentine astronomerMiguel Itzigsohn at theLa Plata Astronomical Observatory, in La Plata, Argentina.[1] TheS-type asteroid has arotation period of 5.3 hours.[5] It was named afterF. A. Muñoz, one of the assistant astronomers at the discovering observatory.[2]
Muñoz is a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid clan and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[4][5][12] It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,203 days;semi-major axis of 2.21 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[3] It was first imaged on aprecovery taken at theLowell Observatory in November 1948, extending the body'sobservation arc by 3 years prior to its official discovery observation.[1]
Thisminor planet was named in memory ofF. A. Muñoz, who was an assistant at the La Plata Observatory in the department of extra-meridian astronomy.[2] Muñoz was involved in computational and observational work on minor planets for many years and also took an active part in site testing for the Argentine telescope, also known as the 85-inch or 2.15-meter Jorge Sahade Telescope(also seeLeoncito Astronomical Complex § Telescopes).[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 August 1980 (M.P.C. 5449).[13]
Being a Florian asteroid,Muñoz is likely a stony, relatively brightS-type asteroid.[5]
Muñoz is a target of thePhotometric Survey for Asynchronous Binary Asteroids (BinAstPhot Survey) led by astronomerPetr Pravec at theOndřejov Observatory in the Czech Republic. In September 2017, two rotationallightcurves were obtained fromphotometric observations by Pravec in collaboration with Serbian astronomer Vladimir Benishek atBelgrade Observatory, who observed the asteroid over three subsequent nights at Sopot Astronomical Observatory (K90). Analysis of the bimodal lightcurve gave a well-defined, nearly identicalrotation period of5.3451±0.0008 and5.3456±0.0007 hours, respectively, with a brightness amplitude of 0.36magnitude (U=3).[5][9][a]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Muñoz measures between 6.15 and 7.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.265 and 0.40.[6][7][8][10][11] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the principal body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 7.82 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.7.[5]
