_Rusthawelia.png) Shape model ofRusthawelia from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | S. Arend |
| Discovery site | Uccle Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 October 1930 |
| Designations | |
| (1171) Rusthawelia | |
Named after | Shota Rustaveli (Georgian poet)[2] |
| 1930 TA · 1926 AD 1926 FH · 1927 FC 1949 BT · A904 EB A913 TA | |
| main-belt · (outer)[3] background[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[5] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 113.85yr (41,584 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.7970AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5779 AU |
| 3.1875 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1912 |
| 5.69 yr (2,079 d) | |
| 175.66° | |
| 0° 10m 23.52s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.0731° |
| 121.78° | |
| 290.57° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 68.67±16.71 km[6] 70.13±2.3 km[7] 70.216±1.560 km[8] 70.98±2.42 km[9] 72.09±1.19 km[10] 72.38±20.19 km[11] 82.229±1.004 km[12] | |
| Mass | (1.81±0.20)×1018 kg[9] |
Meandensity | 9.66±1.45 g/cm3[9] |
| 10.80±0.01 h[13] 10.98±0.01 h[14] 11.013±0.003 h[15] | |
| 0.029±0.003[12] 0.038±0.002[10] 0.0393±0.0051[8] 0.0394±0.003[7] 0.04±0.02[6][11] | |
| Tholen =P[3][5] · P[8] B–V = 0.678[5] U–B = 0.255[5] | |
| 9.89[11] 9.90[3][5][6][7][8][10][12] 9.94±0.16[16] | |
1171 Rusthawelia, provisional designation1930 TA, is a large and darkbackground asteroid, approximately 72 kilometers (45 miles) in diameter, located in the outer regions of theasteroid belt. It was discovered on 3 October 1930, by Belgian astronomerSylvain Arend at theRoyal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, and was an unnoticed rediscovery of alost minor planet then known as "Adelaide".[1] As the asteroid was already named for Georgian poetShota Rustaveli when the rediscovery was realized, its former designation was given to another asteroid instead, which is now known as525 Adelaide.[2]Rusthawelia is a primitiveP-type asteroid and has arotation period of 11 hours.
When Arend discoveredRusthawelia in 1930, it was not realized that he rediscovered the long-lost asteroid "525 Adelaide". It was already discovered 26 years earlier asA904 EB by German astronomerMax Wolf atHeidelberg Observatory in March 1904, who observed it for a short time during the discovery opposition before it became lost. Only decades later, in 1958, it was shown by French astronomerAndré Patry that both asteroid's discovered by Wolf and Arend were one and the same (M.P.C. 1831). It was then decided that this asteroid retains the number–name designation "1171 Rusthawelia", while525 Adelaide was vacated and given to another asteroid (which was the object1908 EKa, discovered byJoel Hastings Metcalf).[5][17]
Another confusion occurred in 1929, one year before Arend's discovery, when American astronomerAnne Sewell Young thought to have found long-lost "Adelaide", when in fact she mistook the asteroid for comet31P/Schwassmann–Wachmann that had a very similarorbital eccentricity.[18]
Rusthawelia is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population.[4] It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,079 days;semi-major axis of 3.19 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.19 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[5] The body'sobservation arc begins asA904 EB at Heidelberg in March 1904, when it was discovered by Max Wolf(see above).[1]
Thisminor planet was named for medieval Georgian poetShota Rustaveli (შოთა რუსთაველი, c. 1160 – after c. 1220). The official naming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 109).[2]
Rusthawelia is a dark and primitiveP-type asteroid, as characterized by theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE),[8] andclassified by Tholen.[5][3]
In October and November 2003, two rotationallightcurves ofRusthawelia were obtained from photometric observations by John Menke at his observatory in Barnesville, Maryland, and by a group of American astronomers. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 10.80 and 10.98 hours and a brightness variation of 0.31 and 0.26magnitude, respectively (U=3/3).[13][14] A third, concurring period of 11.013 hours with an amplitude of 0.26 magnitude was obtained by French amateur astronomerRené Roy in February 2005 (U=3).[15]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope,Rusthawelia measures between 68.67 and 82.23 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.029 and 0.04.[6][7][8][10][11][12] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0394 and a diameter of 70.13 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 9.90.[3]
