_Villigera.png) Modelled shape ofVilligera from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | A. Schwassmann |
| Discovery site | Bergedorf Obs. |
| Discovery date | 28 February 1932 |
| Designations | |
| (1310) Villigera | |
Named after | Walther Villiger (Swiss astronomer)[2] |
| 1932 DB · 1964 TC | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 85.34 yr (31,171 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.2438AU |
| Perihelion | 1.5424 AU |
| 2.3931 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3555 |
| 3.70yr (1,352 days) | |
| 76.690° | |
| 0° 15m 58.32s / day | |
| Inclination | 21.071° |
| 357.32° | |
| 88.759° | |
| Mars MOID | 0.2634 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 13.76±1.38 km[5] 15.24 km(calculated)[4] |
| 7.830±0.005h[6][a] 7.83001±0.00005 h[7] 7.834±0.001 h[8] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[4] 0.245±0.049[5] | |
| Tholen =S[1] · S[4] B–V = 0.905[1] U–B = 0.445[1] | |
| 11.45[1][4][5] | |
1310 Villigera, provisional designation1932 DB, is a stonyasteroid and largeMars-crosser from the innermost regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 14 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 February 1932, by German astronomerFriedrich Schwassmann atBergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany.[3] The asteroid was named after astronomerWalther Villiger.[2]
Villigera is aMars-crossing asteroid, a dynamically unstable group between the main belt and thenear-Earth populations, crossing the orbit ofMars at 1.666 AU. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.5–3.2 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,352 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.36 and aninclination of 21° with respect to theecliptic.[1] Noprecoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made. The body'sobservation arc begins 10 days after its official discovery observation with its first used observation atUccle Observatory.[3]
Villigera is a commonS-type asteroid on theTholen taxonomic scheme.[1]
In October 2001, a first rotationallightcurve ofVilligera was obtained by astronomer Robert Koff at Thornton Observatory (713) in Colorado. Light curve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 7.830 hours with a brightness variation of 0.39magnitude (U=3).[6][a]
Photometric observations by astronomersRené Roy,Raoul Behrend andPierre Antonini in February 2006, gave a concurring period of 7.834 hours and an amplitude of 0.36 magnitude (U=3).[8] In 2016, a modeled lightcurves using photometric data from various sources, rendered an identical period of 7.830 and aspin axis of (3.0°, 63°) inecliptic coordinates.[7]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Villigera measures 13.76 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.245.[5] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 15.24 kilometers, with anabsolute magnitude of 11.45.[4] Based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion,Villigera measures between 13 and 30 kilometers for an albedo in the range of 0.05 to 0.25.[9]
This makesVilligera one of the largest mid-sizedMars-crossing asteroids comparable with1065 Amundsenia (9.75 km),1139 Atami (9.35 km),1474 Beira (8.73 km),1011 Laodamia (7.5 km),1727 Mette (est. 9 km),1131 Porzia (7 km),1235 Schorria (est. 9 km),985 Rosina (8.18 km) and1468 Zomba (7 km), but smaller than the largest members of this dynamical group, namely,132 Aethra,323 Brucia,1508 Kemi,2204 Lyyli and512 Taurinensis, which are all larger than 20 kilometers in diameter.
Thisminor planet was named in honour of Swiss astronomerWalther Villiger (1872–1938), who himself discovered the main-belt asteroid428 Monachia at Munich in 1897.[2] The official naming citation was also mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 120).[2]
