_Riceia.png) Shape model ofRiceia from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 October 1931 |
| Designations | |
| (1230) Riceia | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈraɪsiə/ |
Named after | Hugh Rice[2] (U.S. amateur astronomer) |
| 1931 TX1 · 1964 TS 1964 UE · 1975 HH | |
| main-belt · (inner)[3] background[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.13 yr (31,459 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0335AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1104 AU |
| 2.5719 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1795 |
| 4.12yr (1,507 days) | |
| 288.81° | |
| 0° 14m 20.4s / day | |
| Inclination | 10.515° |
| 200.55° | |
| 185.25° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.194±0.344 km[5] 7.46 km(calculated)[3] |
| 6.67317±0.00001h[6] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[3] 0.318±0.037[5] | |
| S[3][7] | |
| 12.90[5] · 13.0[1][3] · 13.11±0.22[7] | |
1230 Riceia, provisional designation1931 TX1, is a stony backgroundasteroid from the central regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 October 1931, by German astronomerKarl Reinmuth at theHeidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory.[8] The asteroid was named afterHugh Rice, amateur astronomer of New York and director of the Museum of Natural Sciences.[2]
Riceia is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population.[4] It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,507 days;semi-major axis of 2.57 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.18 and aninclination of 11° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The body'sobservation arc begins at Heidelberg on 17 October 1931, or eight days after its official discovery observation.[8]
Riceia has been characterized as a stonyS-type asteroid byPan-STARRS photometric survey.[7]
In 2016, a rotationallightcurve ofRiceia was modeled from photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database. Lightcurve analysis gave a siderealrotation period of 6.67317 hours as well as aspin axis of (37.0°, −63.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[6]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Riceia measures 6.19 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.318.[5] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 7.46 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.0.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after American amateur astronomer Hugh Rice, director of the Museum of Natural Sciences (possiblyAMNH).[2] The naming was proposed by Irving Meyer and endorsed by German astronomerGustav Stracke who mentioned on a postcard in February 1937, that his American college, Meyer, who himself did not discover any asteroids, requested the naming after the city of Rutherford, where a private observatory was located at the time.[9]
The official naming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 113).[2]
