_Eckert.png) Shape model ofEckert from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 July 1950 |
| Designations | |
| (1750) Eckert | |
Named after | Wallace Eckert (astronomer)[2] |
| 1950 NA1 · 1950 OA | |
| Mars-crosser[1] · Hungaria[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.89 yr (24,431 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.2597AU |
| Perihelion | 1.5932 AU |
| 1.9265 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1730 |
| 2.67yr (977 days) | |
| 346.00° | |
| Inclination | 19.084° |
| 273.76° | |
| 109.00° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.6934 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.95±0.21 km[4] 6.97 km(calculated)[5] |
| 4.49±0.01 h(dated)[6] 375±5h[7] 377.5±0.5 h[8] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[5] 0.203±0.013[4] | |
| B–V = 0.885[1] U–B = 0.500[1] Tholen =S[1] · S[5] | |
| 13.15[1][4][5] · 13.67±0.33[9] | |
1750 Eckert, provisional designation1950 NA1, is a stonyslow rotating Hungariaasteroid andMars-crosser from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 July 1950, by German astronomerKarl Reinmuth atHeidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.[3] It was named after American astronomerWallace Eckert.[2]
The Mars crossing asteroid is also a member of theHungaria family, a group that forms theinnermost dense concentration of asteroids in theSolar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–2.3 AU once every 2 years and 8 months (977 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 19° with respect to theecliptic.[1] As noprecoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made,Eckert'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation.[3]
In October 2009, a rotationallightcurve ofEckert was obtained by American astronomerBrian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory (716) in Colorado. It gave an exceptionally longrotation period of 375 hours with a brightness variation of 0.87magnitude (U=3-).[7] A modeled lightcurve obtained from the Lowell Photometric Database in 2016, gave a similar period of 377.5 hours (U=n.a.).[8]Eckert has the sixth-longestrotation period of all known Mars-crossers.[10]
According to the survey carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite, the asteroid measures 6.95 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo of 0.203.[4] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with Akarai and assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 6.97 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 13.15.[5]
Theminor planet was named in memory of American astronomerWallace Eckert (1902–1971), director at theUnited States Naval Observatory from 1940 to 1945, president ofIAU's Commission 7, and pioneer in the use of automatic computing machines. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he used the then most powerful computing machines ever built,SSEC andNORC, for astronomical calculations. The asteroid1625 The NORC was named after one of these early super-computers. Eckert also produced the integration of the orbits of the five outer planets in collaboration with Brouwer and Clemence, after whom the minor planets1746 Brouwer and1919 Clemence were named. By use of sophisticated computing techniques, Eckert was able to check and extend Brown'slunar theory(also see1643 Brown).[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3934).[11]
