| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Brožek |
| Discovery site | Kleť Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 April 1980 |
| Designations | |
| (2696) Magion | |
Named after | Magion 1[2] (Czechoslovaksatellite) |
| 1980 HB · 1951 SK 1953 GC · 1978 TN7 | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (inner) background[4][5] · Phocaea[6] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.41yr (24,255 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.7287AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1712 AU |
| 2.4499 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1138 |
| 3.83 yr (1,401 d) | |
| 35.557° | |
| 0° 15m 25.2s / day | |
| Inclination | 25.350° |
| 186.23° | |
| 283.31° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 10.06 km(calculated)[6] 20.18±1.0 km[7] 20.83±5.49 km[8] 21.388±0.121 km[9] 22.74±0.53 km[10] 23.824±8.215 km[11] 25.418±0.186 km[12] | |
| 480±6 h[13][a] | |
| 0.0345±0.0036[12] 0.038±0.004[9] 0.04±0.03[8] 0.0421±0.0397[11] 0.054±0.003[10] 0.0687±0.008[7] 0.23(assumed)[6] | |
| X[14] · S(assumed)[6] | |
| 12.00[7][10][12] 12.20[3][6][11] 12.39[8] 12.48±0.02[14] | |
2696 Magion, provisional designation1980 HB, is a dark backgroundasteroid and aslow rotator from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers (13 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 16 April 1980, by Slovak astronomerLadislav Brožek at theKleť Observatory in former Czechoslovakia.[1] TheX-type asteroid has an ambiguousrotation period of 480 hours and is possibly atumbler.[6] It was named for the first Czechoslovaksatellite,Magion 1, launched in 1978.[2]
Magion is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[4][5] Based on osculating Keplerianorbital elements, the asteroid has also been considered a member of thePhocaea family (701),[6] a large family with two thousand members, named after25 Phocaea.
It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,401 days;semi-major axis of 2.45 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.11 and aninclination of 25° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The body'sobservation arc begins with its first observation as1951 SK atGoethe Link Observatory in September 1951, more than 28 years prior to its official discovery observation at Kleť.[1]
Magion has been characterized as anX-type asteroid byPan-STARRS large-scale survey.[14] It is also an assumedS-type asteroid based on its family classification.[6]
In May 2007, a rotationallightcurve ofMagion was obtained fromphotometric observations by astronomersAdrián Galád,Leonard Kornoš andŠtefan Gajdoš atModra Observatory in Slovakia. Lightcurve analysis gave an exceptionally long but ambiguousrotation period of480±6 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.31magnitude (U=2).[13] Alternative periods are 474 and 360 hours, respectively.[a] Due to its long period, thisslow rotator ranks among to theTop 100 of its kind. It may also be atumbler, yet no strong evidence has been found (T0).[6][b]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Magion measures between 20.18 and 25.418 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.0345 and 0.0687.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a high albedo of 0.23 – derived from 25 Phocaea, the parent body of the Phocaea family – and consequently calculates a much smaller diameter of 10.06 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.2.[6]
Thisminor planet was named after "Magion 1", the first Czechoslovakartificial satellite, launched withInterkosmos 18 mission on 24 October 1978. The satellite studied the interactions betweenEarth's magnetosphere and itsionosphere, and it examined the special structure ofextremely low frequency waves.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 28 January 1983 (M.P.C. 7620).[15]
