_Korolev.png) Shape model ofKorolev from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 8 October 1969 |
| Designations | |
| (1855) Korolev | |
Named after | Sergey Korolyov (Soviet rocket engineer)[2] |
| 1969 TU1 · 1961 JD 1964 DD | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 55.74 yr (20,358 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.4363AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0583 AU |
| 2.2473 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0841 |
| 3.37yr (1,231 days) | |
| 286.81° | |
| 0° 17m 33.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.0793° |
| 191.03° | |
| 349.40° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.789±0.253 km[4] 7.47 km(calculated)[3] |
| 4.65±0.01 h[5] 4.656199±0.000001 h[6] 4.6568±0.0001h[a] 4.66±0.01 h[7] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.319±0.032[4] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.70[4] · 12.8[1][3] | |
1855 Korolev (prov. designation:1969 TU1) is a stonyFlora asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. Discovered in 1969, it was later named after Soviet rocket engineerSergei Korolev.[2]
Korolev was discovered by Russian astronomerLyudmila Chernykh at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on 8 October 1969.[8] On the same night, she also discovered1856 Růžena.[2]
It was first identified as1961 JD atGoethe Link Observatory in 1961, extending the body'sobservation arc by 8 years prior to its official discovery observation.[8]
The asteroid orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,231 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.08 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
Thisminor planet was named in honor ofSergei Korolev (1907–1966), a designer, integrator, organizer and strategic planner. He was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in theSpace Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s until his early death. Thelunar andMartian cratersKorolev are also named in his honour.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 June 1975 (M.P.C. 3825).[9]
Korolev is characterized as a common stonyS-type asteroid.[3]
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's space-basedWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Korolev measures 6.79 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.319,[4] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 7.47 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.8.[3]
In March 2008, three rotationallightcurves ofKorolev were obtained from photometric observation made by astronomers James W. Brinsfield,Petr Pravec andRené Roy, giving a well-definedrotation period of 4.65–4.66 hours with a brightness variation 0.75 and 0.76magnitude, respectively (U=3/2/3).[5][7][a] Another concurring lightcurve was published in March 2016, using sparse-in-time photometry data from the Lowell Photometric Database (U=n.a.).[6]
