| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 13 January 1940 |
| Designations | |
| (1553) Bauersfelda | |
Named after | Walther Bauersfeld[2] (German engineer) |
| 1940 AD | |
| main-belt · Koronis[3] background[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 77.47 yr (28,296 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1994AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6132 AU |
| 2.9063 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1009 |
| 4.95yr (1,810 days) | |
| 236.42° | |
| 0° 11m 56.04s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.2348° |
| 110.97° | |
| 20.747° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 11.48 km(calculated)[3] 13.772±0.194 km[5] 14.346±0.123 km[6] |
| 51.191±0.1354h[7] | |
| 0.2181±0.0273[6] 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.249±0.041[5] | |
| SMASS =S[1] · S[3][8] | |
| 11.417±0.002(R)[7] · 11.5[6] · 11.6[1] · 11.72±0.26[8] · 11.87[3] | |
1553 Bauersfelda (provisional designation1940 AD) is a stony Koronianasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 January 1940, by astronomerKarl Reinmuth at theHeidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany.[9] The asteroid was named after German engineerWalther Bauersfeld.[2]
Bauersfelda orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 11 months (1,810 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.10 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1940.[9]
Based on its orbital parameters, Bauersfelda is a member of theKoronis family (605),[3] a very large outerasteroid family with nearly co-planar ecliptical orbits. However,Bauersfelda turns out to be a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[4]
In theSMASS classification, Bauersfelda is a stonyS-type asteroid.[1] It is also characterized as a S-type byPanSTARRS photometric survey,[8] which agrees with the Koronis family's overallspectral type.
While not being aslow rotator, Bauersfelda's period is significantly longer than that of most minor planets. In August 2012, a rotationallightcurve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 51.191 hours with a brightness variation of 0.26magnitude (U=2).[7]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Bauersfelda measures 13.772 and 14.346 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.2181 and 0.249, respectively.[5][6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 and calculates a diameter of 11.48 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.87.[3]
Thisminor planet was named afterWalther Bauersfeld (1879–1959), a German engineer who worked at the optical manufacturerZeiss (also see851 Zeissia, which was named after the company's founder). Bauersfeld is known as the designer of the Zeiss madeplanetaria such as thePlanetarium Jena. The asteroid's name was announced in the mid-1950s on the occasion of his 75th anniversary.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center in November 1953 (M.P.C. 994).[10]
