| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. Tom Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (12621) Alsufi | |
Named after | Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (astronomer)[2] |
| 6585 P-L · 1997 JJ12 | |
| main-belt · Themis[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 56.33 yr (20,576 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.5148AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6980 AU |
| 3.1064 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1315 |
| 5.48yr (2,000 days) | |
| 142.13° | |
| 0° 10m 48s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.4308° |
| 148.06° | |
| 204.34° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.76 km(calculated)[3] |
| 4.7194±0.0024h[4] | |
| 0.08(assumed)[3] | |
| L[5] · C[3] | |
| 13.9[1] · 13.91±0.26[5] · 13.761±0.014(R)[4] · 14.21[3] | |
12621 Alsufi, provisionally designated6585 P-L, is a carbonaceous Themistianasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by astronomers during thePalomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and named for medieval Persian astronomerAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi.
Alsufi was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer coupleIngrid andCornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomerTom Gehrels at the U.S.Palomar Observatory, California.[6] Noprecoveries were taken prior to its discovery observation.[6]
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands forPalomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory andLeiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar'sSamuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped thephotographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory whereastrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.[7]
It is a member of theThemis family, a dynamical group of outer-belt asteroids with nearly coplanar ecliptical orbits. TheC-type asteroid is also classified as a rather rareL-type asteroid byPan-STARRS' large-scale survey.[5] It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,000 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 2° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
A rotationallightcurve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made at the U.S.Palomar Transient Factory, California, in January 2012. It gave arotation period of4.7194±0.0024 hours with a brightness amplitude of0.71 inmagnitude (U=2).[4] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes analbedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 6.8 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 14.21.[3]
Thisminor planet is named in honor of 10th-century Persian astronomerAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi (A.D. 903–986), also known by his western name, Azophi. Working in Isfahan, he produced his influential star atlas around A.D. 963. The atlas is based on both, Ptolemy'sAlmagest and on pre-Islamic star lore, and contains the earliest description of theAndromeda Galaxy.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 22 January 2008 (M.P.C. 61764).[8] The lunar craterAzophi is also named in his honour.
