_Maupertuis.png) Shape model ofMaupertuis from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Y. Väisälä |
| Discovery site | Turku Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 February 1938 |
| Designations | |
| (3281) Maupertuis | |
Named after | Pierre Louis Maupertuis [1] (French mathematician) |
| 1938 DZ · 1961 TP 1970 AP · 1979 TV | |
| main-belt [1][2] · (inner) Vesta [3] · Flora [4] | |
| Orbital characteristics [2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.03yr (31,422 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5798AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1203 AU |
| 2.3501 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0978 |
| 3.60 yr (1,316 d) | |
| 20.991° | |
| 0° 16m 24.96s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.9904° |
| 348.46° | |
| 240.52° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 5.482±0.043 km[5] 5.680±0.031 km[6] 7.14 km(calculated)[4] | |
| 6.7295±0.0001 h[7][a] 6.72984±0.00001 h[8] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[4] 0.4611±0.0450[6] 0.489±0.020[5] | |
| S(assumed)[4] V(possibly) | |
| 12.7[6] 12.9[2][4] 13.11±0.45[9] | |
3281 Maupertuis (prov. designation:1938 DZ) is a brightVesta asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt. It was discovered on 24 February 1938, by Finnish astronomerYrjö Väisälä at theTurku Observatory in southwest Finland.[1] The likely elongatedV-type asteroid has arotation period of 6.7 hours and measures approximately 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) in diameter.[4] It was named after Frenchgeodesist and mathematicianPierre Louis Maupertuis.[1]
Maupertuis is a member of theVesta family (401),[3] a giantasteroid family of typically brightV-type asteroids. Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulateeucrites (HED meteorites) and are thought to have originated deep within4 Vesta's crust, possibly from theRheasilvia crater, a largeimpact crater on its southern hemisphere near the South pole, formed as a result of a sub-catastrophic collision. Vesta is the main belt'ssecond-largest andsecond-most-massive body afterCeres.[10][11] Based on osculating Keplerianorbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[4]
It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,316 days;semi-major axis of 2.35 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.10 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken at theLowell Observatory in March 1931, or nearly 7 years prior to its official discovery observation at Turku.[1]
Thisminor planet was named after Frenchgeodesist and mathematicianPierre Louis Maupertuis (1698–1759), who was a member of theFrench Academy of Sciences and chief of theFrench Geodesic Mission to the Tornio river valley in Lapland, Finland, to conducted thedegree measurement of the meridian (1736–1737), which determined that the Earth is oblate rather than prolate(seespheroid), as proposed by his rivalJacques Cassini.[1] Thenaming was published by theMinor Planet Center on 27 June 1991 (M.P.C. 18451).[12] The lunar craterMaupertuis was also named in his honor.
Maupertuis is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid.[4] Based on its high albedo(see below), and its membership to the Vesta family, it is possibly aV-type asteroid.
In March 2010, a rotationallightcurve ofMaupertuis was obtained fromphotometric observations by French amateur astronomerRené Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 6.7295 hours with an exceptionally high brightness amplitude of 1.22magnitude (U=3), indicative of a strongly elongated shape.[7][a]
In March 2016, a second period was published based on data from the Lowell Photometric Database. Using lightcurve inversion and convex shape models, as well as distributed computing power and the help of individual volunteers, a sidereal period of6.25033±0.00001 hours was derived from the database's sparse-in-time photometry data. Twospin axes at (62.0°, −66.0°) and (231.0°, −74.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β) were also determined.[8]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Maupertuis measures between 5.482 and 5.680 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.4611 and 0.489.[5][6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes it to be a Florian asteroid and uses a lower albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the family'sparent body – and consequently calculates a somewhat larger diameter of 7.14 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.9.[4]
