_Bok.png) Modelled shape ofBok from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Roemer |
| Discovery site | Catalina Stn. |
| Discovery date | 9 June 1975 |
| Designations | |
| (1983) Bok | |
Named after | Bart Bok and Priscilla Fairfield Bok[2] |
| 1975 LB · 1950 RV 1963 UJ | |
| main-belt · (middle)[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.73 yr (24,372 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.8796AU |
| Perihelion | 2.3632 AU |
| 2.6214 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0985 |
| 4.24yr (1,550 days) | |
| 260.33° | |
| 0° 13m 55.92s / day | |
| Inclination | 9.4133° |
| 23.557° | |
| 346.78° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 10.08 km(calculated)[3] 15±3 km[4] 15.70±0.24 km[5] | |
| 10.70±0.01h[4] | |
| 0.034±0.015[5] 0.06±0.02[4] 0.10(assumed)[3] | |
| C[4] · S/C[3] | |
| 12.83±0.10[4] · 13.1[1][3] · 13.10±0.22[6] · 13.32[5] | |
1983 Bok (prov. designation:1975 LB) is a darkbackground asteroid from the central region of theasteroid belt. It was discovered on 9 June 1975, by American astronomerElizabeth Roemer at theCatalina Station of theUA'sSteward Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, and named forBart Bok andPriscilla Fairfield Bok.[2][7] The carbonaceousC-type asteroid has arotation period of 10.7 hours and measures approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) in diameter.
Bok orbits the Sun in thecentral main-belt at a distance of 2.4–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,550 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.10 and aninclination of 9° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The first observation was taken at the ArgentinianLa Plata Astronomical Observatory in 1950, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 25 years prior to its discovery.[7]
Thisminor planet was named after the astronomer coupleBart Bok (1906–1983) andPriscilla Fairfield Bok (1896–1975), in recognition for their contribution toastrometry ofsmall Solar System bodies. Both astronomers studied the structure of the southern Milky Way and fostered astronomy in the Southern Hemisphere.
Bok was the first numbered discovery made with the Stewart Observatory's 90-inchBok Telescope. The body's name was proposed by the discovering astronomer and byAlan C. Gilmore from New Zealand.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 18 April 1977 (M.P.C. 4158).[8]
Bok has been characterized as aC-type asteroid.[4]
In October 2014, the first rotationallightcurve for this body was obtained by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battitsa Casalnuovo at the Eurac Observatory (C62) in Bolzano, Italy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of10.70±0.01 hours with a relatively high brightness variation of 0.46magnitude (U=3-).[4]
The Italian astronomer also calculated an albedo of 0.06 for its surface and a diameter of15±3 kilometers, in agreement with the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer which gave a diameter of 15.7 kilometers and an albedo of 0.034.[5]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10, a compromise value between thestony (0.20) andcarbonaceous (0.057) asteroids with asemi-major axis between 2.6 and 2.7 AU, and consequently calculates a much smaller diameter of 10.08 kilometers using anabsolute magnitude of 13.1.[3]
