_Swings.png) Shape model ofSwings from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. Hunaerts |
| Discovery site | Uccle Obs. |
| Discovery date | 28 August 1936 |
| Designations | |
| (1637) Swings | |
Named after | Pol Swings(astrophysicist)[2] |
| 1936 QO · 1907 YT 1934 FL · 1934 FP 1936 SD · 1939 FU 1950 GA | |
| main-belt · (outer) | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 109.78 yr (40,096 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.2088AU |
| Perihelion | 2.9356 AU |
| 3.0722 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0445 |
| 5.38yr (1,967 days) | |
| 123.47° | |
| 0° 10m 58.8s / day | |
| Inclination | 14.068° |
| 21.288° | |
| 236.17° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 45.15 km(IRAS)[3] 52.994±0.428 km[4] |
| 0.042±0.004[4] | |
| 10.4[1] | |
1637 Swings, provisional designation1936 QO, is a darkasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 50 kilometers in diameter. Discovered byJoseph Hunaerts in 1936, it was named after Belgian astronomerPol Swings.
Swings was discovered on 28 August 1936, by Belgian astronomerJoseph Hunaerts at theRoyal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, Belgium.[5] In the following month, it was independently discovered by astronomerCyril Jackson atJohannesburg Observatory in South Africa.[2]
The asteroid orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.9–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,967 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.04 and aninclination of 14° with respect to theecliptic.[1] In 1907,Swings was first identified as1907 YT atHeidelberg Observatory. However, the body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Uccle in 1936.[5]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Swings' surface has analbedo of 0.042, and measures 45.15 and 52.99 kilometers in diameter, respectively.[3][4] It has an absolutemagnitude of 10.4.[1]
As of 2017, the body'sspectral type,rotation period and shape remain unknown.[1]
Thisminor planet was named afterPol Swings (1906–1983), a Belgianastrophysicist, astronomer and president of theInternational Astronomical Union during 1964–1967, who significantly contributed to the understanding of the physics ofcomets and their spectra.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3932).[6]
