| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Boyer |
| Discovery site | Algiers Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 November 1950 |
| Designations | |
| (1851) Lacroute | |
Named after | Pierre Lacroute (French astronomer)[2] |
| 1950 VA | |
| main-belt · (inner) | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.35 yr (24,236 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.7003AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5044 AU |
| 3.1024 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1927 |
| 5.46yr (1,996 days) | |
| 85.690° | |
| 0° 10m 49.44s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.6660° |
| 24.766° | |
| 343.20° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 16.89 km(IRAS)[3] 18.158±0.108 km[4] |
| 0.049±0.007[4] 0.0745±0.009(IRAS)[3] | |
| 12.7[1] | |
1851 Lacroute, provisional designation1950 VA, is anasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 9 November 1950, by French astronomerLouis Boyer at theAlgiers Observatory in the capital of Algeria, Northern Africa, and named after French astronomerPierre Lacroute.[2][5]
Lacroute orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (1,996 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.19 and aninclination of 2° with respect to theecliptic.[1] As noprecoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, the body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation in 1950.[5]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Lacroute measures 16.9 and 18.2 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo of 0.049 and 0.074, respectively.[3][4] As of 2016, the body'sspectral type, as well as itsrotation period and shape remain unknown.[1][6]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of French astronomer Pierre Lacroute (1906–1993), a knownastrometrist, president ofIAU's Commission 24 in the 1970s, and director of theObservatory of Strasbourg, instrumental in the establishment of the Stellar Data Center(also seeSIMBAD).[2]
Lacroute also made an independent reduction of the astrometric star catalogueAGK3, using a technique involving overlappingphotographic plates.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 August 1978 (M.P.C. 4419).[7]
