| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. H. Metcalf |
| Discovery site | Winchester Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 November 1912 |
| Designations | |
| (736) Harvard | |
Named after | Harvard University[2] (Cambridge, Massachusetts) |
| A912 WC · 1937 FC 1947 HB · 1912 PZ | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 106.85yr (39,027 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5653AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8382 AU |
| 2.2018 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1651 |
| 3.27 yr (1,193 d) | |
| 28.744° | |
| 0° 18m 6.12s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.3767° |
| 135.91° | |
| 200.51° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.7 h[10][11] | |
736 Harvard (prov. designation:A912 WCor1912 PZ) is a stonybackground asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers (11 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 16 November 1912, by American astronomerJoel Hastings Metcalf at the Winchester Observatory (799).[1] The brightS-type asteroid has arotation period of 6.7 hours. It was named afterHarvard University inCambridge, Massachusetts.[2]
Located in the orbital region of theFlora family (402),Harvard is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[4][5][6] It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,193 days;semi-major axis of 2.2 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The body'sobservation arc begins atHeidelberg Observatory on 9 December 1912, or three weeks after its official discovery observation byMetcalf at Winchester.[1]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of the prestigiousHarvard University inCambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Thenaming was also mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 74).[2]
In theTholen classification,Harvard is a common, stonyS-type asteroid.[3][5]
In 1970s, a rotationallightcurve ofHarvard was obtained fromphotometric observations byEd Tedesco.[11] Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of6.7 hours with a brightness variation of0.32magnitude (U=3).[10]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the JapaneseAkari satellite,Harvard measures (16.66±0.6), (17.111±0.125) and (17.92±0.27) kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of (0.1406±0.011), (0.133±0.022) and (0.122±0.004), respectively.[7][8][9] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.2051 and a diameter of 16.89 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.2.[10] Anasteroid occultation observed on 25 May 2003, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of (9.0 km × 9.0 km) with a low quality rating of 1.[5] These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star.[5]
