| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Y. Väisälä |
| Discovery site | Turku Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 February 1938 |
| Designations | |
| (1479) Inkeri | |
Named after | Ingria[2] (former Finnish province) (discoverer's family members) |
| 1938 DE · 1934 FR 1956 JD · A916 AC A923 RG | |
| main-belt · (middle)[3] background[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 93.63 yr (34,199 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1920AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1636 AU |
| 2.6778 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1920 |
| 4.38yr (1,601 days) | |
| 91.083° | |
| 0° 13m 29.64s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.3024° |
| 18.110° | |
| 80.004° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 15.206±0.117 km[5][6] 18.35 km(calculated)[3] 18.83±5.10 km[7] 22.70±0.56 km[8] 31.86±0.33 km[9] |
| 5 h(dated)[10] 12.55 h(dated)[11] 660±5h[12] | |
| 0.033±0.006[9] 0.07±0.06[7] 0.095±0.005[8] 0.10(assumed)[3] 0.222±0.003[5][6] | |
| Tholen = XFU[1][3] B–V = 0.699[1] | |
| 11.40[6][8] · 11.80[3][9] · 11.9[1] · 12.00[7] · 12.45±1.49[13] | |
1479 Inkeri, provisional designation1938 DE, is anasteroid from the central regions of theasteroid belt. It is an exceptionallyslow rotator, suspected tumbler and measures approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 February 1938, by Finnish astronomerYrjö Väisälä at theIso-Heikkilä Observatory in Turku, Finland.[14] "Inkeri" is the name of two of the discoverer's younger relatives as well as the local name of the former Finnish province ofIngria.[2]
Inkeri is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population.[4] It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,601 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.19 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The asteroid was first identified asA916 AC atSimeiz Observatory in January 1916. The body'sobservation arc begins with its identification as1923 RG atHeidelberg Observatory in September 1923, more than 14 years prior to its official discovery observation at Turku.[14]
In theTholen classification,Inkeri'sspectral type is ambiguous (XFU). It is closest to that of anX-type asteroid and somewhat similar to theF-types. In addition, the spectrum has also been flagged as "unusual" (U).[1]
In December 2011, a rotationallightcurve ofInkeri was obtained from photometric observations by Andrea Ferrero at the Bigmuskie Observatory (B88), Italy, in collaboration withFrederick Pilcher at the Organ Mesa Observatory (G50) in New Mexico, United States. Analysis of the bimodal lightcurve gave an exceptionally longrotation period of 660 hours with a brightness amplitude of 1.30magnitude (U=2+).[12]
This makes it one of theslowest rotators known to exist. The observers also suspect that the body is atumbling asteroid in a non-principal axis rotation.[12] These results supersede previous period solutions of 5 and 12.55 hours (U=1/1).[10][11]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Inkeri measures between 15.206 and 31.86 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.033 and 0.2222.[5][6][7][8][9]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10 and calculates a diameter of 18.35 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.8.[3]
Thisminor planet was named "Inkeri", aFinnish female name, held by Vaisala's granddaughter and niece. It is also the Finnish name ofIngria, a formerly-Finnish province nearSaint Petersburg that is now part of Russia.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center in January 1956 (M.P.C. 1350).[15]
