.png) Lightcurve-based 3D-model of Kustaanheimo | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Oterma |
| Discovery site | Turku Obs. |
| Discovery date | 20 January 1942 |
| Designations | |
| (1559) Kustaanheimo | |
Named after | Paul Kustaanheimo (Finnish astronomer)[2] |
| 1942 BF · 1935 FP 1935 HB | |
| main-belt · (inner)[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 82.20 yr (30,023 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7103AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0702 AU |
| 2.3903 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1339 |
| 3.70yr (1,350 days) | |
| 119.55° | |
| 0° 16m 0.12s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.1911° |
| 327.92° | |
| 216.59° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 9.07±0.65 km[4] 10.725±0.176 km[5] 11.395±0.103 km[6] 12.39 km(calculated)[3] 12.70±0.85 km[7] |
| 4.286±0.003h[8] 4.3±0.1 h[a] 4.302±0.002 h[9] 4.30435 h[10] | |
| 0.193±0.028[7] 0.20(assumed)[3] 0.2401±0.0455[6] 0.267±0.048[5] 0.373±0.077[4] | |
| S[3] | |
| 11.90[3][4][6][7] · 12.0[1] | |
1559 Kustaanheimo (provisional designation1942 BF) is a stonyasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 January 1942, by Finnish astronomerLiisi Oterma at theIso-Heikkilä Observatory near Turku in southwest Finland.[11] The asteroid was named after Finnish astronomerPaul Kustaanheimo (1924–1997).
Kustaanheimo is an asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population that does not belong to any knownasteroid family. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,350 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
In March 1935, the asteroid was first identified as1935 FP at theUnion Observatory in Johannesburg. The body'sobservation arc begins at Johannesburg in the following month, with its identification as1935 HB, almost 7 years prior to its official discovery observation at Turku.[11]
Kustaanheimo is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid.[3]
In February 2005, a rotationallightcurve of Kustaanheimo was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer John Menke at his Menke Observatory inBarnesville, Maryland (noobs. code). Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 4.286 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25magnitude (U=3).[8] One month later, another well-defined lightcurve by French amateur astronomerLaurent Bernasconi gave a period of 4.302 hours and an amplitude of 0.23 magnitude (U=3).[9] In April 2016,Petr Pravec obtained an intermediary period of 4.3 hours with a brightness variation of 0.29 at theOndřejov Observatory (U=2).[a]
In 2013, an international study modeled a lightcurve with a similar period of 4.30435 hours and found two spin axis of (275.0°, 29.0°) and (94.0°, 33.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β) .[10]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Kustaanheimo measures between 9.07 and 12.70 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.193 and 0.373.[4][5][6][7]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 12.39 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.9.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after Paul Kustaanheimo (1924–1997), a Finnish astronomer at theHelsinki University Observatory who made important contributions tocelestial mechanics and thetheory of relativity and best known for his K-S transformation. In 1969, he was appointed professor of astronomy at theUniversity of Helsinki after the retirement of Gustaf Järnefelt(also see1558 Järnefelt).[2][12]
The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3930).[13]
