_Osita.png) Shape model ofOsita from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. Gibson |
| Discovery site | El Leoncito Complex |
| Discovery date | 16 August 1971 |
| Designations | |
| (1837) Osita | |
Named after | Ursula Gibson (astronomer's wife)[2] |
| 1971 QZ1 · 1962 XQ 1968 QB1 · 1972 YJ1 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 54.27 yr (19,823 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.3955AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0158 AU |
| 2.2057 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0861 |
| 3.28yr (1,196 days) | |
| 93.913° | |
| 0° 18m 3.24s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.8455° |
| 280.93° | |
| 315.11° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 7.14 km(calculated)[3] 7.530±0.119[4] 7.693±0.061 km[5] 7.85±0.29 km[6] 7.94±0.58 km[7] |
| 3.8186±0.0020h[8] 3.81862±0.0001[9] 3.81880±0.00005 h[10] | |
| 0.194±0.030[7] 0.198±0.024[6] 0.2067±0.0254[5] 0.216±0.019[4] 0.24(assumed)[3] | |
| AQ[11] · S[3] | |
| 12.674±0.001(R)[8] · 12.81±0.23[11] · 12.9[1][3][5][6][7] | |
1837 Osita (prov. designation:1971 QZ1) is a stonyFlora asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 August 1971, by American astronomerJames Gibson at the Yale–Columbia Southern Station of theLeoncito Astronomical Complex in Argentina, who named it after his wife Ursula ("Osita").[12]
TheS-type asteroid is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,196 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.09 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[1]Osita was first identified as1962 XQ atGoethe Link Observatory in 1962, extending the body'sobservation arc by 9 years prior to its official discovery observation.[12]
PanSTARRS's large-scale survey also classifiedOsita as a rare AQ-type, having intermediate spectral characteristics of anA andQ type asteroid.[11]
In February 2006, a rotationallightcurve ofOsita was obtained from photometric observation by French amateur astronomerRené Roy, giving a well-definedrotation period of 3.81880 hours with a brightness variation of 0.48magnitude (U=3).[9] Photometric observations in the R-band at thePalomar Transient Factory in October 2011, gave a concurring period of 3.8186 hours and an amplitude of 0.59 magnitude (U=2).[8] A third period of 3.81880 hours was derived from a large international data-mining collaboration in February 2016 (U=n.a.).[10]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Osita measures between 7.53 and 7.94 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo between 0.194 and 0.216.[4][5][6][7]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 7.14 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.9.[3]
Thisminor planet was named by the discoverer for his wife Ursula ("Osita" is the Spanish equivalent). She volunteered as an assistant and actively participated in the observations by measuring or reducing more than 150 positions of comets and minor planets.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3935).[13]
