| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | A. Paroubek R. Podstanicka |
| Discovery site | Skalnaté Pleso Obs. |
| Discovery date | 20 March 1955 |
| Designations | |
| (1989) Tatry | |
Named after | High Tatra Mountains (in northern Slovakia)[2] |
| 1955 FG · 1935 UQ 1944 DL · 1955 DY 1964 WK · 1968 YC 1971 SJ2 | |
| main-belt · Vestian[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 81.63 yr (29,815 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5314AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1704 AU |
| 2.3509 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0768 |
| 3.60yr (1,317 days) | |
| 166.59° | |
| 0° 16m 24.24s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.7654° |
| 25.305° | |
| 88.343° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.99±2.38 km[4] 9.399±0.122 km[5] 9.603±0.063 km[6] 9.87±0.88 km[7] 16.81 km(calculated)[3] |
| 24h[8] 39.9±0.1 h[9] 131.3±0.2 h[10] | |
| 0.057(assumed)[3] 0.175±0.017[5] 0.1917±0.0338[6] 0.240±0.205[4] 0.262±0.048[7] | |
| SMASS =C[1][3] | |
| 12.10[7] · 12.10±0.91[11] · 12.40[4] · 12.5[6] · 12.6[1][3] | |
1989 Tatry, provisional designation1955 FG, is a carbonaceous Vestianasteroid and tumblingslow rotator from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 20 March 1955, by the Slovakian astronomersAlois Paroubek andRegina Podstanická atSkalnate Pleso Observatory, Slovakia, and named for theHigh Tatra Mountains.[2][12] It was their onlyminor planet discovery.
Based on its orbital elements, the asteroid is a member of theVesta family and classified as a carbonaceousC-type asteroid in theSMASS taxonomy. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,317 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.08 and aninclination of 8° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It was first identified as1935 UQ at the South AfricanUnion Observatory in 1935, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 20 years prior to its official discovery.[12]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite, and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 8.99 and 9.87 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.175 and 0.262.[4][5][6][7] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a much larger diameter of 16.8 kilometers, as the lower the albedo (reflectivity), the higher the diameter at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).[3]
Photometric measurements of the asteroid made in January 2005, by astronomerBrian D. Warner at hisPalmer Divide Observatory, Colorado, gave alightcurve with aperiod of39.9±0.1 hours and a brightness variation of below0.22±0.02 inmagnitude. However, the data was incomplete, so the period is considered suspect (U=2-).[9] Further measurements made in October 2007, byAdrián Galád,Leonard Kornoš andŠtefan Gajdoš atModra Observatory in Slovakia, showed a much longer period of131.3±0.2 hours with a brightness variation of 0.5 in magnitude (U=2).[10] In March 2009, a fragmentary lightcurve obtained by French amateur astronomerPierre Antonini gave a period of 24 hours (U=1).[8]
The observers also detected a non-principal axis rotation seen in distinct rotational cycles in successive order. This is commonly known astumbling.[3][10][13]Tatry is one of a group of less than 200 bodies known to be is such a state(also seeList of tumblers).
Thisminor planet is named after the location of the discovering observatory,High Tatras (Slovak:Vysoké Tatry), the highest mountain range in northern Slovakia.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 February 1980 (M.P.C. 5183).[14]
