| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. A. Bruwer |
| Discovery site | Johannesburg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 7 April 1953 |
| Designations | |
| (1660) Wood | |
Named after | Harry Edwin Wood (astronomer)[2] |
| 1953 GA · 1931 KL 1933 YC · 1951 RD1 1955 VQ | |
| main-belt · Phocaea[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.05 yr (31,429 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1172AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6726 AU |
| 2.3949 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3016 |
| 3.71yr (1,354 days) | |
| 182.68° | |
| 0° 15m 57.24s / day | |
| Inclination | 20.575° |
| 212.94° | |
| 276.66° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 11.342±0.113 km[5][6] 12.67 km(calculated)[3] |
| 6.8088±0.0002h[7] 6.8088±0.0004 h[8] 6.8090±0.0002 h[9] | |
| 0.23(assumed)[3] 0.239±0.035[5][6] | |
| SMASS =S[1] · S[3] | |
| 11.32±0.67[10] · 11.7[1][3] · 11.9[5] | |
1660 Wood, provisional designation1953 GA, is a stony Phocaeaasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was named after British–South African astronomerHarry Edwin Wood.
Wood was discovered on 7 April 1953, by South African astronomerJacobus Bruwer atJohannesburg Observatory in South Africa.[11] It was the second numbered discovery made by Bruwer. He also discovered the minor planets1658 Innes,1794 Finsen, and3284 Niebuhr. The asteroid1811 Bruwer was named in his honour by the Dutch, Dutch-American astronomer trio of thePalomar–Leiden survey.[12]
Wood is aS-type asteroid and member of thePhocaea family (701).[4] It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.7–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,354 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.30 and aninclination of 21° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It was first identified as1931 KL atLowell Observatory in 1931, extending the body'sobservation arc by 22 years prior to its official discovery observation.[11]
From January to March 2012, four rotationallightcurves ofWood were obtained from photometric observations taken by astronomers Julian Oey, Kevin Hills, and Xianming Han. Lightcurve analysis gave a concurringrotation period of 6.809 hours with a brightness variation between of 0.14 and 0.26magnitude (U=3/3/3/2+).[7][8][9]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Wood measures 11.34 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo of 0.239.[5][6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23 and calculates a diameter of 12.67 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 11.7.[3]
Thisminor planet was named for British–South African astronomerHarry Edwin Wood (1881–1946), who was the second director of the Union Observatory at which the asteroid was discovered, and who had discovered 12 asteroids himself between 1911 and 1928. He had the prime responsibility for the famousFranklin-Adams Star Camera (Franklin-Adams photographic refractor) since its acquisition in 1909(also see1925 Franklin-Adams).[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 July 1972 (M.P.C. 3297).[13]
