| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | A. Schmitt |
| Discovery site | Algiers Obs. |
| Discovery date | 19 January 1932 |
| Designations | |
| (1215) Boyer | |
Named after | Louis Boyer (French astronomer)[2] |
| 1932 BA | |
| main-belt · (middle) Eunomia[3] · Maria[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 85.46 yr (31,214 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9213AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2352 AU |
| 2.5783 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1331 |
| 4.14yr (1,512 days) | |
| 324.91° | |
| 0° 14m 17.16s / day | |
| Inclination | 15.915° |
| 123.74° | |
| 266.02° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 13.041±0.106 km[5] 14.705±0.091 km[6] 17.47 km(calculated)[3] 20.68±0.79 km[7] 23.06±4.95 km[8] 24.65±0.36 km[9] |
| 10.36±0.05h[4] | |
| 0.116±0.022[9] 0.147±0.013[7] 0.17±0.08[8] 0.21(assumed)[3] 0.3012±0.1397[6] | |
| Tholen =S[1] · S[3] B–V = 0.900[1] U–B = 0.459[1] | |
| 11.00[8][9] 11.1[1][3][6] 11.14[7] 11.53±0.15[10] | |
1215 Boyer, provisional designation1932 BA, is a stony Eunomianasteroid from the central region of theasteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by astronomerAlfred Schmitt in 1932, who named it after French astronomer and collegeLouis Boyer.[11]
Boyer was discovered on 19 January 1932, by French astronomerAlfred Schmitt at theAlgiers Observatory in Algeria, North Africa.[1] Eight days later, it was independently discovered byKarl Reinmuth atHeidelberg Observatory in Germany.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins at Algiers with its official discovery observation.[11]
Boyer is a member of theEunomia family (502), the most prominent family in theintermediate main-belt, which mostly consists of stony asteroids. Conversely,Boyer has also been grouped into theMaria family (506).[4]
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.2–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,512 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 16° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
In theTholen classification,Boyer is a common, stonyS-type asteroid.[1]
In August 2008 and May 2012, two rotationallightcurves ofBoyer were obtained from photometric observations by an international collaboration of astronomers studying the rotational properties of Maria asteroids, using the ground-basedWise Observatory in Israel. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 10.36 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 and 050magnitude, respectively (U=2-/2).[4]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Boyer measures between 13.041 and 24.65 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.116 and 0.3012.[5][6][7][8][9]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21, derived from the Eunomia family's largest member and namesake,15 Eunomia, and calculates a diameter of 17.47 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 11.1.[3]
Thisminor planet was named by the discoverer after his colleague at Algiers Observatory,Louis Boyer (1901–1999), who worked extensively on asteroids andcomets. Boyer himself was adiscoverer of minor planets at Algiers. He later worked on identifications atNice observatory.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 August 1978 (M.P.C. 4418).[12]
