| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | A. Schmitt |
| Discovery site | Uccle Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 March 1952 |
| Designations | |
| (1622) Chacornac | |
Named after | Jean Chacornac (astronomer)[2] |
| 1952 EA · 1932 DD 1933 UX · 1939 KE 1942 EB1 · 1949 KF 1952 DP2 · 1953 TM1 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 85.94 yr (31,388 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5989AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8705 AU |
| 2.2347 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1630 |
| 3.34yr (1,220 days) | |
| 146.41° | |
| 0° 17m 42s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.4607° |
| 4.3644° | |
| 256.53° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.43±0.32 km[4] 9.85 km(calculated)[3] 10.27±0.65 km[5] |
| 11.485±0.006h[6] 12.2044±0.0041 h[7] 12.206±0.002 h[8] 12.2190±0.0116 h[7] | |
| 0.224±0.030[5] 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.360±0.042[4] | |
| S[3][9] | |
| 11.954±0.001(R)[7] · 12.040±0.001(R)[7] · 12.04±1.25[9] · 12.10[4] · 12.2[1][3][5] | |
1622 Chacornac (provisional designation1952 EA) is a stony Floraasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 March 1952, by French astronomerAlfred Schmitt at theRoyal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, and named after astronomerJean Chacornac.[2][10]
TheS-type asteroid is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,220 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.16 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The firstprecovery was taken atLowell Observatory in 1930, extending Chacornac'sobservation arc by 22 years prior to its official discovery observation.[10]
Between 2009 and 2013, several rotationallightcurves for this asteroid were obtained from photometric observations at thePalomar Transient Factory and the Hunters Hill Observatory, as well as by astronomers Eric Barbotin andRaoul Behrend. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period between 11.48 and 12.20 hours with a brightness variation between 0.21 and 0.25 inmagnitude (U=2/2/2).[6][7][8]
According to the survey carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite, Chacornac measures 10.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.224,[5] while observations by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission gave a diameter of 8.4 kilometers and a high albedo of 0.36.[4] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the results obtained by AKARI and assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 9.9 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.2.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in memory of French astronomerJean Chacornac (1823–1873), an earlydiscoverer of minor planets himself, most notably25 Phocaea. He also discovered the parabolic cometC/1852 K1 (Chacornac) in 1852 and independently discovered20 Massalia. The lunar craterChacornac also bears his name.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 August 1978 (M.P.C. 4418).[11]
