| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 17 February 1950 |
| Designations | |
| (1611) Beyer | |
Named after | Max Beyer(astronomer)[2] |
| 1950 DJ · 1958 RE | |
| main-belt · (outer)[3] Hygiea[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 67.10 yr (24,510 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.6837AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6637 AU |
| 3.1737 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1607 |
| 5.65yr (2,065 days) | |
| 150.69° | |
| 0° 10m 27.48s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.2818° |
| 237.54° | |
| 75.717° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 15.46±4.34 km[5] 23.25±1.77 km[6] 24.30 km(calculated)[3] 24.444±0.192 km[7] | |
| 13.2608±0.0113h[8] 13.29 h[9] | |
| 0.057(assumed)[3] 0.062±0.014[7] 0.10±0.08[5] 0.101±0.017[6] | |
| C(assumed)[3] | |
| 11.30[6] · 11.538±0.001(R)[8] · 11.70[7] · 11.8[1][3] · 11.93±0.21[10] · 12.08[5] | |
1611 Beyer, provisional designation1950 DJ, is a carbonaceous Hygieanasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 February 1950, by German astronomerKarl Reinmuth atHeidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.[11] It was named after astronomer Max Beyer.[2]
Beyer is a member of theHygiea family (601),[4] a very largefamily of carbonaceous outer-belt asteroids, named after thefourth-largest asteroid,10 Hygiea.[12] It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,065 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.16 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[1] Itsobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation, as noprecoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.[11]
Beyer is a carbonaceousC-type asteroid.[3]
AstronomersPierre Antonini andSilvano Casulli obtained a rotationallight-curve ofBeyer from photometric observations taken in July 2009. It gave arotation period of 13.29 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35magnitude (U=2+).[9] In October 2010, observations in the R-band at thePalomar Transient Factory gave a similar period of 13.2608 hours and an amplitude of 0.12 magnitude (U=2).[8]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Beyer measures between 15.46 and 24.44 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo between 0.062 and 0.101.[5][6][7] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 24.30 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 11.8.[3]
Thisminor planet was named by the discoverer for Max Beyer (1894–1982), German astronomer at theBergedorf Observatory in Hamburg.[2] Beyer was also on the post-war editorial board of theAstronomische Gesellschaft. The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center in December 1959 (M.P.C. 1948).[13]
