| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Torres |
| Discovery site | Cerro El Roble Stn. |
| Discovery date | 22 March 1974 |
| Designations | |
| (2518) Rutllant | |
Named after | Federico Alcina(astronomer)[2] |
| 1974 FG · 1974 HU 1978 NA3 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.51 yr (22,832 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7078AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9098 AU |
| 2.3088 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1728 |
| 3.51yr (1,281 days) | |
| 95.275° | |
| 0° 16m 51.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.9261° |
| 205.58° | |
| 38.729° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.162±0.211 km[4][5] 5.93 km(calculated)[3] |
| 3.651±0.001h[6] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.771±0.049[4][5] | |
| S[3] | |
| 13.3[1][3] · 13.4[4] · 13.69±0.32[7] | |
2518 Rutllant, provisional designation1974 FG, is a stony Floraasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Chilean astronomerCarlos Torres at theCerro El Roble Station of theNational Astronomical Observatory in Chile, on 22 March 1974, and named for astronomerFederico Alcina.[2][8]
Rutllant is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,281 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[1] A firstprecovery was taken atGoethe Link Observatory in 1954, extending the body'sobservation arc by 20 years prior to its official discovery observation at Cerro El Roble.[8]
Rutllant has been characterized as a stonyS-type asteroid.[3]
A rotationallightcurve was obtained by American astronomerBrian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory (716), Colorado, in October 2010. The lightcurve gave a well-definedperiod of3.651 hours with a relatively low brightness variation of 0.12 inmagnitude (U=3).[6]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid has an outstandingly highalbedo of 0.77 with a diameter of 3.2 kilometer,[4][5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes an albedo of 0.24, derived from the Flora family's largest member and namesake, the asteroid8 Flora. Consequently, CALL calculates a much larger diameter of 5.9 kilometer, as the lower the albedo (reflectivity), the larger the body's diameter at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).[3]
Thisminor planet was named in memory of Spanish-born astronomer Federico Alcina (1904–1971), director of the ChileanNational Astronomical Observatory (OAN), and professor of mathematics atFederico Santa María Technical University.[2]
Alcina was instrumental for the development of Chilean astronomy, and responsible for a number of critical agreements and decisions, such as moving OAN from Lo Espejo to its current location, for the installment of theMaipú Radio Observatory upon an agreement withUF, for another agreement withUChicago,University of Texas, and laterAURA — that resulted in the setup of theCTIO, as well as for an agreement with the formerSoviet Academy of Sciences that lead to the building of theCerro El Roble Station, where this minor planet was discovered.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 26 March 1986 (M.P.C. 10545).[9]
