_Massevitch.png) Massevitch modeled from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | T. Smirnova |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 May 1972 |
| Designations | |
| (1904) Massevitch | |
Named after | Alla Massevitch(astronomer)[2] |
| 1972 JM · 1949 JH 1951 XN · 1958 JA 1962 CE · 1965 YH 1971 BF | |
| main-belt · (middle) | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 68.09 yr (24,870 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9442AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5477 AU |
| 2.7460 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0722 |
| 4.55yr (1,662 days) | |
| 218.92° | |
| 0° 12m 59.76s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.817° |
| 106.40° | |
| 261.22° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 13.503±0.211 km[3] 18.19 km(IRAS)[4] 18.25 km(derived)[5] |
| 5.394±0.003 h[6] | |
| 0.1613(IRAS)[4] 0.1756(derived)[5] 0.581±0.228[3] | |
| SMASS =R[1][5] | |
| 10.55[3] · 11.2[1][5] · 11.21±0.49[7] | |
1904 Massevitch (prov. designation:1972 JM) is abackground asteroid from the central region of theasteroid belt. It was discovered on 9 May 1972, by the Russian astronomerTamara Smirnova at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.[8] The uncommonR-type asteroid has arotation period of 5.3 hours and measures approximately 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) in diameter. It was later named after Russian astrophysicistAlla Masevich.[2]
Massevitch orbits the Sun in thecentral main-belt at a distance of 2.5–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,662 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.07 and aninclination of 13° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It was first identified as1949 JH atGoethe Link Observatory in 1949, extending the body'sobservation arc by 23 years prior to its discovery observation.[8]
Thisminor planet was named after Russian astrophysicist and astronomer Alla Genrichovna Massevitch (born 1918), vice-president of the Astronomical Council of the formerUSSR Academy of Sciences (nowRussian Academy of Sciences). In the former USSR, Massevitch organized theoptical tracking of artificialsatellites in Earth's orbit.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3936).[9]
The moderately brightR-type asteroid has a surface that strongly absorbs in theolivine andpyroxene spectral region, which give it its very reddish color.[1]
In September 2014, a rotationallightcurve ofMassevitch was obtained fromphotometric observations taken at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory (E09) in Coonabarabran, Australia. It gave arotation period of5.394 hours with a brightness variation of 0.30magnitude (U=3−)[6]
According to the surveys carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission and the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS,Massevitch measures 13.50 and 18.19 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo of 0.161 and 0.581, respectively,[3][4] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.176 and a diameter of 18.25 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 11.2.[5]
