_Argelander.png) Shape model of Argelander from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Y. Väisälä |
| Discovery site | Turku Observatory |
| Discovery date | 24 February 1938 |
| Designations | |
| (1551) Argelander | |
Named after | Friedrich Argelander[2] (German astronomer) |
| 1938 DC1 · 1930 BL 1940 XD · 1951 XG1 1953 GD1 · 1957 KR 1962 XP | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (inner) background[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 88.76yr (32,418 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5539AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2350 AU |
| 2.3944 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0666 |
| 3.71 yr (1,353 d) | |
| 147.41° | |
| 0° 15m 57.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.7615° |
| 107.23° | |
| 233.60° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 9.19±0.27 km[6] 10.238±0.122 km[7][8] 10.50±0.50 km[9] 11.016±0.073 km[10] | |
| 4.063±0.006 h[11] | |
| 0.1940[10] 0.217[9] 0.222[7][8] 0.302[6] | |
| S(assumed)[12] | |
| 12.10[6] 12.20[1][3][7][9][10] | |
1551 Argelander (provisional designation1938 DC1) is a backgroundasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 February 1938, by Finnish astronomerYrjö Väisälä at theTurku Observatory in southwest Finland.[1] The likelyS-type asteroid has arotation period of 4.1 hours.[12] It was named after German astronomerFriedrich Argelander.[2]
Argelander is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population.[4][5] It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,353 days;semi-major axis of 2.39 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.07 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The body'sobservation arc begins with its first observation as1930 BL atHeidelberg Observatory in January 1930, or 8 years prior to its official discovery observation atTurku.[1]
Thisminor planet was named afterFriedrich Wilhelm Argelander (1799–1875), author of theBonner Durchmusterung and 19th-century head of the ancient observatory at Turku and Bonn (520).[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 30 January 1964 (M.P.C. 2278).[13] The lunar craterArgelander is also named after him.[2]
Argelander is an assumedS-type asteroid.[12]
In August 2017, a rotationallightcurve of Argelander was obtained fromphotometric observations at the ChileanCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory using the SARA South Telescope. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of4.063±0.006 hours and a brightness variation of 0.48magnitude (U=2+).[11] In January 2012, astronomers at thePalomar Transient Factory had also determined a period of4.061±0.0023 with an amplitude of 0.41 magnitude (U=2).[14]
A modeled lightcurve using photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database was published in 2016. It gave a concurring period of4.058350±0.000001 hours, as well as twospin axes at (3.0°, −81.0°) and (183.0°, −72.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[15]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Argelander measures between 9.2 and 11.0 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.19 and 0.30.[6][7][8][9][10] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 9.60 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.45.[12]
