.png) Lightcurve-based 3D-model ofOdessa | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 1 April 1976 |
| Designations | |
| (2606) Odessa | |
Named after | Odesa[2](city in Ukraine) |
| 1976 GX2 · 1955 VE | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (middle) background[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.91yr (22,979 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.4893AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0286 AU |
| 2.7589 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2647 |
| 4.58 yr (1,674 d) | |
| 50.837° | |
| 0° 12m 54.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.452° |
| 197.31° | |
| 353.17° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 15.910±0.231 km[5][6] 25.44 km(calculated)[7] | |
| 8.2426±0.0003 h[8] 8.244±0.002 h[9] 8.2444 h[10] | |
| 0.057(assumed)[7] 0.1753±0.0296[5][6] | |
| SMASS =Xk[3] X[11] · M[6] | |
| 11.5[6] · 11.57±0.21[11] 11.7[3][7] | |
2606 Odessa, provisional designation1976 GX2, is a backgroundasteroid from the central regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 April 1976, by Soviet–Russian astronomerNikolai Chernykh at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula.[1] The presumably metallicX- orM-type asteroid has an elongated shape and arotation period of 8.24 hours.[7] It was named for the Ukrainian city ofOdesa.[2]
Odessa is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population.[4] It orbits the Sun in theintermediate asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–3.5 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,674 days;semi-major axis of 2.76 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.26 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.[3]
The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken atPalomar Observatory in July 1954, near 22 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnij.[1]
In theSMASS classification,Odessa is a Xk-subtype that transitions between theX- andK-type asteroids.[3] It has also been characterized as an X-type byPan-STARRS photometric survey,[11] while it as anM-type asteroid according to theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).[6]
In 2008, two rotationallightcurves ofOdessa were obtained from photometric observations at theHunters Hill andOakley Southern Sky observatories in Australia. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 8.2426 and 8.244 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.80 and 0.72magnitude, respectively, indicative for a non-spherical shape (U=3/3).[8][9]
In 2016, a modeled lightcurve gave a concurring sidereal period of 8.2444 hours using data from the Uppsala Asteroid Photometric Catalogue, thePalomar Transient Factory survey, and individual observers (such as above), as well as sparse-in-time photometry from theNOFS, theCatalina Sky Survey, and the La Palma surveys (950). The study also determined twospin axes of (25.0°, −81.0°) and (283.0°, −88.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[10]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope,Odessa measures 15.91 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.175,[5][6] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes acarbonaceous standard albedo of 0.057 and consequently calculates a larger diameter of 25.44 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.7.[7]
Thisminor planet was named after the Ukrainianblack Sea port city ofOdesa.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 December 1982 (M.P.C. 7472).[12]
