| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Jackson |
| Discovery site | Johannesburg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 23 July 1938 |
| Designations | |
| (1468) Zomba | |
Named after | Zomba(Malawian city)[2] |
| 1938 PA | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 78.47 yr (28,660 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7913AU |
| Perihelion | 1.5998 AU |
| 2.1956 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2713 |
| 3.25yr (1,188 days) | |
| 95.275° | |
| 0° 18m 10.8s / day | |
| Inclination | 9.9388° |
| 308.93° | |
| 23.188° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.97±1.39 km[5] 8.57 km(calculated)[4] |
| 2.769±0.005h[6][a] 2.77 h[7] 2.772±0.006 h[8] 2.773±0.001 h[9] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[4] 0.302±0.121[5] | |
| Q[10] · S(assumed)[4] | |
| 12.70[1][4][5] · 13.05±0.45[10] | |
1468 Zomba, provisional designation1938 PA, is a stonyasteroid and largeMars-crosser near the innermost regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. Discovered byCyril Jackson atJohannesburg Observatory in 1938, the asteroid was named after the city ofZomba in the Republic of Malawi.[3]
Zomba was discovered on 23 July 1938, by South African astronomerCyril Jackson at theUnion Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa.[3] It was independently discovered by French astronomerLouis Boyer at theAlgiers Observatory, Algeria, on 2 August 1938,[2] who first announce the asteroid's discovery.[1] TheMinor Planet Center (MPC) only recognizes the first discoverer.[3]
Zomba is aMars-crossing asteroid, a dynamically unstable group between the main belt and thenear-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,188 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.27 and aninclination of 10° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg.[3]
Zomba has been characterized as aQ-type asteroid byPan-STARRS photometric survey.[10] The Lightcurve Data Base assumes it to be a commonS-type asteroid.[4]
Several rotationallightcurves ofZomba have been obtained from photometric observations. Lightcurve analysis gave a consolidatedrotation period of 2.773 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.3 and 0.36magnitude (U=3-/2/3/3).[6][7][8][9][a]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Zomba measures 6.97 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.302,[5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 8.57 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.7.[4]
This makesZomba 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 (7.39 km),1727 Mette (est 9 km),1131 Porzia (7.13 km),1235 Schorria (est. 9 km),985 Rosina (8.18 km) and1310 Villigera (15.24 km), but far 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 after the town ofZomba in the Republic of Malawi, known asNyasaland, a British protectorate, at the time of naming. The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center in April 1953 (M.P.C. 909).[11]
