_Gagarin.png) Shape model ofGagarin from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 6 February 1968 |
| Designations | |
| (1772) Gagarin | |
Named after | Yuri Gagarin(cosmonaut)[2] |
| 1968 CB · 1940 GA 1942 VZ · 1948 ET 1960 FH · 1969 OO | |
| main-belt · (middle)[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 76.21 yr (27,835 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7924AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2610 AU |
| 2.5267 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1051 |
| 4.02yr (1,467 days) | |
| 90.345° | |
| 0° 14m 43.44s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.7423° |
| 88.181° | |
| 93.442° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.00 km(derived)[3] 8.838±0.644[4] 9.634±0.105 km[5] |
| 10.93791±0.00005 h[6] 10.94130±0.00005 h[7] 10.9430±0.0049 h[8] 10.96h[9] | |
| 0.1380±0.0085[5] 0.164±0.039[4] 0.20(assumed)[3] | |
| L[10] · S[3] B–V = 0.920[1] | |
| 12.626±0.002(R)[8] · 12.7[1] · 12.80±0.45[10] · 12.85[3][9][5] | |
1772 Gagarin (prov. designation:1968 CB) is a stonybackground asteroid from the central region of theasteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 6 February 1968, by Russian astronomerLyudmila Chernykh at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean Peninsula.[11] The asteroid was named after cosmonautYuri Gagarin.[2]
Gagarin orbits the Sun in thecentral main-belt at a distance of 2.3–2.8 AU once every 4.02 years (1,467 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.11 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[1]Gagarin first observation is aprecovery that was taken atTurku Observatory in 1940, extending the body'sobservation arc by 28 years prior to its official discovery observation.[11]
Gagarin has been characterized as a rareL-type asteroid byPanSTARRS' photometric survey.[10]
In February 1984, a rotationallightcurve ofGagarin obtained by American astronomerRichard P. Binzel gave arotation period of 10.96 hours with a brightness variation of 0.24magnitude (U=2).[9] Photometric observations at the CalifornianPalomar Transient Factory in December 2011, gave a 10.9430 hours with an amplitude of 0.41 (U=2).[8] in 2001 and 2016, additional lightcurve were obtained from modeled photometric data, giving a period of 10.94130 and 10.93791 hours (U=n.a.).[6][7]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Gagarin measures between 8.83 and 9.63 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo between 0.138 and 0.164,[4][5] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo of 0.20 and derives a diameter of 8.00 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.85.[3]
Thisminor planet was named for Russian–Soviet cosmonautYuri Gagarin (1934–1968),Hero of the Soviet Union and first human to journey into outer space by circumnavigating Earth in 1961. Gagarin died in a jet fighter crash in 1968, the year the asteroid was discovered. The lunar craterGagarin is also named in his honor.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 25 September 1971 (M.P.C. 3185).[12]
