| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 22 September 1973 |
| Designations | |
| (2123) Vltava | |
Named after | Vltava[2] (Czech nationalriver) |
| 1973 SL2 · 1934 PB 1936 AE · 1942 EV 1951 AQ1 · 1954 UL 1956 AJ · 1956 CE 1964 VZ · 1975 AR 1977 JB1 · 1978 SO | |
| main-belt · (outer) Koronis[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 82.23 yr (30,036 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0862AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6337 AU |
| 2.8600 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0791 |
| 4.84yr (1,767 days) | |
| 11.862° | |
| 0° 12m 13.68s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.0106° |
| 311.62° | |
| 58.849° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 14.42±1.3 km(IRAS:2)[3] 14.461±0.186[4] 14.800±0.252 km[5] 15.12±0.75 km[6] |
| 16.2954±0.0282h[7] 34.0 h[8] | |
| 0.2032±0.0183[5] 0.212±0.034[4] 0.2135±0.046(IRAS:2)[3] 0.220±0.025[6] | |
| S[3] | |
| 11.327±0.001(R)[7] · 11.50(IRAS:2)[1][3] · 11.5[6][5] · 11.75±0.09[8] · 12.09±0.50[9] | |
2123 Vltava, provisional designation1973 SL2, is a stony Koronianasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 September 1973, by Soviet–Russian astronomerNikolai Chernykh at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory on the Crimean peninsula in Nauchnyj.[10] It is named for the riverVltava (Moldau).[2]
TheS-type asteroid is a member of theKoronis family, which is named after158 Koronis and consists of about 300 known bodies with nearly co-planarecliptical orbits. The asteroid orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 10 months (1,767 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.08 and aninclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] A firstprecovery taken atHeidelberg in 1934, extends the body'sobservation arc by 39 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnyj.[10]
Between 1998 and 2005, a survey of members of the Koronis family by seven different observatories obtained a large number of rotationallightcurves from . ForVltava, the survey gave an ambiguousrotation period of 34.0 hours with a brightness variation of 0.21 inmagnitude (U=2).[8] In 2014,photometric observations at thePalomar Transient Factory in California rendered a lightcurve with an alternative solution of16.2954 hours, or about half the period previously found, with an amplitude of 0.19 magnitude (U=2).[7]
According to the surveys carried out by the internationalInfrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), the JapaneseAkari satellite, and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures between 14.4 and 15.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.20 and 0.22.[1][4][5][6]
Thisminor planet was named for theVltava(Moldau), the longest river within the Czech Republic, running through the city of Prague.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 April 1980 (M.P.C. 5283).[11]
