| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | M. F. Wolf |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 19 March 1926 |
| Designations | |
| (2732) Witt | |
Named after | Carl Gustav Witt (German astronomer) |
| 1926 FG · 1935 DF 1965 UP1 · 1969 RD 1978 PQ1 · 1979 YL6 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (middle) Witt[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 92.02yr (33,612 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.8250AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6961 AU |
| 2.7606 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0234 |
| 4.59 yr (1,675 d) | |
| 129.05° | |
| 0° 12m 53.64s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.4925° |
| 145.08° | |
| 276.05° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 11.001±0.291 km[4] | |
| 0.305±0.022[4] | |
| SMASS =A[2] | |
| 11.8[2] | |
2732 Witt, provisional designation1926 FG, is a brightasteroid and namesake of theWitt family located in the central regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers (7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 19 March 1926, by German astronomerMax Wolf at theHeidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany. The unusualA-type asteroid was named after astronomerCarl Gustav Witt.[1][2]
Witt theparent body and namesake of theWitt family (535),[3] a largefamily of stony asteroids with more than 1,600 known members.[5]
It orbits the Sun in thecentral main-belt at a distance of 2.7–2.8 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,675 days;semi-major axis of 2.76 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.02 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins at Heidelberg in April 1926, two week after its official discovery observation.[1]
In theSMASS classification,Witt is an uncommonA-type asteroid,[2] while the overallspectral type for members of the Witt family is that of anS-type.[5]: 23
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Witt measures 11.001 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.305.[4]
As of 2018, no rotationallightcurve ofWitt has been obtained fromphotometric observations. The body'srotation period,pole and shape remain unknown.[2]
Thisminor planet was named byBrian G. Marsden afterCarl Gustav Witt (1866–1946), a German astronomer at theBerlin Observatory and adiscoverer of minor planets himself, best known for the discovery of the near-Earth asteroid433 Eros.[1] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 22 September 1983 (M.P.C. 8153).[6]
