_Aivazovskij.png) Shape model ofAivazovskij from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 11 September 1977 |
| Designations | |
| (3787) Aivazovskij | |
Named after | Ivan Aivazovsky(painter)[2] |
| 1977 RG7 · 1931 DM 1967 RO · 1987 UA3 | |
| main-belt · (outer)[3] Itha[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.11 yr (31,452 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.2220AU |
| Perihelion | 2.4819 AU |
| 2.8519 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1298 |
| 4.82yr (1,759 days) | |
| 6.3381° | |
| 0° 12m 16.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.055° |
| 185.88° | |
| 305.66° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 12.089±0.121 km[5][6] 14.89 km(calculated)[3] | |
| 2.97[7] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[3] 0.333±0.070[5][6] | |
| S[3][8] | |
| 11.4[5] · 11.488±0.002(R)[9] · 11.5[1][3] · 11.55±0.51[8] | |
3787 Aivazovskij (prov. designation:1977 RG7) is a stonyasteroid of theItha family, located in the outer region of theasteroid belt. It was discovered by Soviet–Russian astronomerNikolai Chernykh at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula, on 11 September 1977.[10] The stonyS-type asteroid has arotation period of 3.0 hours and measures approximately 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) in diameter. It was named after painterIvan Aivazovsky (1817–1900).[2]
When applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements,Aivazovskij is a member of theItha family,[4] a very smallfamily of asteroids, named after its parent body918 Itha.[11]: 23 It orbits the Sun in theouter main belt at a distance of 2.5–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 10 months (1,759 days;semi-major axis of 2.85 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The firstprecovery was taken atLowell Observatory in 1931, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 46 years prior to its discovery.[10]
Thisminor planet was named after the Armenian-Russian painter of seascapes,Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900), who lived and worked in the Crimean city of Feodosia. The minor planet1048 Feodosia is named after this place.[2][12] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 September 1993 (M.P.C. 22499).[13]
The asteroid has been characterized as a stonyS-type asteroid byPanSTARRS' photometric survey.[3][8] This concurs with the overallspectral type for the Itha family.[11]: 23
A rotationallightcurve ofAivazovskij was obtained from photometric observations made in March 2008, at the Universidad de Monterry Observatory, Mexico. It showed a well-definedrotation period of2.97 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.18 inmagnitude (U=3).[7] Two additional observations gave a period of2.9532±0.0005 and2.980807±0.000005 hours, respectively (U=2/n.a.).[9][14]
Based on the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA's space-basedWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measure 12.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.33,[5][6] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20, and calculates a diameter 14.9 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 11.5.[3]
