.png) Lightcurve-based 3D-model ofRovaniemi | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Y. Väisälä |
| Discovery site | Turku Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 October 1938 |
| Designations | |
| (1518) Rovaniemi | |
Named after | Rovaniemi(Finnish city)[2] |
| 1938 UA · 1928 TL 1951 SH | |
| main-belt · (inner) Flora[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 88.74 yr (32,412 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5449AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9053 AU |
| 2.2251 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1437 |
| 3.32yr (1,212 days) | |
| 246.56° | |
| 0° 17m 49.2s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.7137° |
| 27.804° | |
| 37.101° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 7.46±1.30 km[5] 7.76±0.71 km[6] 8.480±0.167 km[7] 8.98 km(calculated)[3] 9.019±0.070 km[8] |
| 5.247±0.001 h[9] 5.249±0.002h[10] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.2631±0.0374[8] 0.295±0.063[7] 0.31±0.17[5] 0.340±0.195[6] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.3[8] · 12.34[6] · 12.4[1][3] · 12.68[5] | |
1518 Rovaniemi (provisional designation1938 UA) is a stony Florianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. Discovered byYrjö Väisälä at theTurku Observatory in 1938, the asteroid was later named after the Finnish city ofRovaniemi.
Rovaniemi was discovered on 15 October 1938, by Finnish astronomerYrjö Väisälä at theTurku Observatory in Southwest Finland. Six nights later, it was independently discovered by Belgian astronomerEugène Delporte atUccle Observatory on 21 October 1938. TheMinor Planet Center, however, only recognizes the first discoverer.[2][11]
The asteroid was first identified as1928 TL atSimeiz Observatory on 7 October 1928.[a] The body'sobservation arc begins two weeks later at Simeiz on 21 October 1928, almost 10 years prior to the asteroid's official discovery observation at Turku.[11]
Rovaniemi is a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[3][4][12]: 23 It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,212 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.14 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
Rovaniemi is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid,[3] which corresponds to the overallspectral type of the Flora family.[12]: 23
In January 2009, two rotationallightcurves of Rovaniemi were obtained from photometric observations byRené Roy at Blauvac Observatory (627) in France, and byBrian Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory (716) in Colorado, United States. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 5.247 and 5.249 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.26 and 0.25magnitude, respectively (U=2+/3).[9][10]
In 2013, an international study modeled Rovaniemi's lightcurve from various data sources, including the Uppsala Asteroid Photometric Catalogue and thePalomar Transient Factory survey. The lightcurve gave a concurring period of 5.25047 hours and allowed for the determination of two spin axis of (62.0°, 60.0°) and (265.0°, 45.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[13]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Rovaniemi measures between 7.46 and 9.019 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.2631 and 0.340.[5][6][7][8]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the Flora family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 8.98 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.4.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after the Finnish city ofRovaniemi, located just six kilometers south of theArctic Circle.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3929).[14]
