| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | T. Smirnova |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 22 October 1968 |
| Designations | |
| (2046) Leningrad | |
Named after | Saint Petersburg (Russian city)[2] |
| 1968 UD1 · 1929 VK 1934 RK · 1940 UF 1955 HN · 1957 YV 1973 QS · 1973 SH3 | |
| main-belt · Themis[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 87.51 yr (31,964 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.7227AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5902 AU |
| 3.1565 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1794 |
| 5.61yr (2,048 days) | |
| 288.85° | |
| 0° 10m 32.88s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.7356° |
| 73.570° | |
| 284.26° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 23.55 km(calculated)[3] 23.968±0.292 km[4][5] 27.67±0.67 km[6] |
| 5.296±0.003h[7] | |
| 0.060±0.003[6] 0.08(assumed)[3] 0.085±0.017[4][5] | |
| C[3] | |
| 11.15±0.23[8] · 11.4[4] · 11.5[1][3][6] | |
2046 Leningrad, provisional designation1968 UD1, is a carbonaceous Themistianasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 24 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 October 1968, by Soviet astronomerTamara Smirnova at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula.[9] The asteroid was named after the Soviet city ofLeningrad (now St. Petersburg).[2]
Leningrad is a member of theThemis family, a dynamical family ofcarbonaceous asteroids with nearly coplanarecliptical orbits, located in theouter-belt main. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,048 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.18 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The body'sobservation arc begins 39 years prior to its official discovery observation, with aprecovery taken atLowell Observatory in October 1929. One week later, the asteroid was identified as1929 VK at Lowell Observatory.[9]
In August 2012, a rotationallightcurve ofLeningrad was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory (E09). Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 5.296 hours with a brightness variation of 0.11magnitude (U=2+).[7]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite, and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Leningrad measures 23.968 and 27.67 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.060 and 0.085, respectively.[4][5][6]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for Themistian asteroids of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 23.55 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.5.[3]
Thisminor planet was named forSaint Petersburg, the second largest city of Russia after Moscow. During theSoviet Union, the city was named "Leningrad" between 1924 and 1991. It was also called Petrograd during 1914–1924.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 April 1980 (M.P.C. 5282).[10]
