1318 Nerina (/nɪˈraɪnɑː/), provisional designation1934 FG, is aPhocaea asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 March 1934, by South African astronomerCyril Jackson at theUnion Observatory in Johannesburg.[1] The possibly metallicX-type asteroid has a notably shortrotation period of 2.5 hours.[12] It was named for the flowering plantNerine, also known as "Guernsey lily" or "Jersey lily".[2]
Nerina is a core member of the stonyPhocaea family (701),[3][4] anasteroid family with nearly two thousand members, named after its largest member,25 Phocaea.[15]: 23 It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,280 days;semi-major axis of 2.31 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.20 and aninclination of 25° with respect to theecliptic.[5] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg in March 1934.[1]
Thisminor planet was named after the bulbous herbNerine, native to South Africa (it is also known as Guernsey lily, spider lily or Jersey lily) a genus offlowering plants within the familyAmaryllidaceae. The official naming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 120).[2] Several asteroids were named after plants, in particular flowering plants(also see list of minor planets named after animals and plants).
A large number of rotationallightcurves ofNerina have been obtained from photometric observations since 2004.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] The best-rated lightcurve byRobert Stephens at the Santana Observatory (646) gave arotation period of2.5280±0.0005 hours and a consolidated brightness amplitude between 0.06 and 0.32magnitude (U=3).[10][12] Notably for an asteroid of its size,Nerina is a near-fast rotator, which have periods below of 2.2 hours and are typically much smaller bodies(seeList of fast rotators).
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope,Nerina measures between 7.87 and 13.379 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.1721 and 0.376.[6][7][8][9][11][14] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.1397 and a diameter of 12.91 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.2.[12]
^abcMasiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos".The Astrophysical Journal.791 (2): 11.arXiv:1406.6645.Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M.doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121.
