| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 31 August 1978 |
| Designations | |
| (2995) Taratuta | |
Named after | Yevgeniya Taratuta (Soviet writer)[2] |
| 1978 QK · 1951 JS 1955 FD2 · 1955 FU 1959 EE | |
| main-belt · Eunomia[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 61.86 yr (22,593 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9702AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2624 AU |
| 2.6163 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1353 |
| 4.23yr (1,546 days) | |
| 309.94° | |
| 0° 13m 58.44s / day | |
| Inclination | 14.836° |
| 169.77° | |
| 329.51° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 16.59 km[4] 16.66 km(derived)[3] 18.10±0.52 km[5] |
| 6.6±0.1h[6] 11.14±0.02 h[7] | |
| 0.060±0.004[5] 0.0704[4] 0.0920(derived)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.1[1][3] · 12.10±0.46[8] · 12.4[4][5] | |
2995 Taratuta, provisional designation1978 QK, is a stony Eunomianasteroid from the middle region of theasteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 31 August 1978, by Russian astronomerNikolai Chernykh at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.[9] The asteroid was later named after Soviet writerYevgeniya Taratuta.[2]
2995 Taratuta is a member of theEunomia family, a large group ofS-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun in thecentral main-belt at a distance of 2.3–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,546 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.14 and aninclination of 15° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
It was first identified as1951 JS atMcDonald Observatory in 1951. The asteroid's first used observation was aprecovery taken at Mitaka Observatory (388) in 1955, extending the body'sobservation arc by 23 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnyj.[9]
In March 2014, a rotationallightcurve was obtained from photometric observations at the U.S. Burleith Observatory in Washington D.C.. It gave a well-definedrotation period of 11.1 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25magnitude (U=3-)[7]
A previous fragmentary lightcurve obtained by French amateur astronomerLaurent Bernasconi in May 2006, gave a much shorter period of 6.6 hours with an amplitude of 0.06 (U=1).[6]
According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS and the JapaneseAkari satellite, the asteroid measures 16.6 and 18.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.06 and 0.07, respectively.[4][5] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.09 and a diameter of 16.7 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.1[3]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of Yevgeniya Taratuta, Soviet writer and literary scholar.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 18 September 1986 (M.P.C. 11158).[10]
