| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Kohoutek |
| Discovery site | Calar Alto Obs. |
| Discovery date | 21 November 1981 |
| Designations | |
| (3635) Kreutz | |
Named after | Heinrich Kreutz (German astronomer)[2] |
| 1981 WO1 | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3] · Hungaria[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 34.61 yr (12,641 days) |
| Aphelion | 1.9461AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6434 AU |
| 1.7947 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0843 |
| 2.40yr (878 days) | |
| 273.37° | |
| 0° 24m 35.64s / day | |
| Inclination | 19.223° |
| 235.35° | |
| 249.10° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 2.94±0.59 km[5] 3.41 km(calculated)[4] |
| 39±2h(dated)[6] 280±5 h[7][a] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[4] 0.269±0.108[5] | |
| SMASS =S[1][4] | |
| 14.7[1][4][5] | |
3635 Kreutz, provisional designation1981 WO1, is aslowly rotating Hungariaasteroid andMars-crosser from the innermost regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 November 1981, by Czech astronomerLuboš Kohoutek at theCalar Alto Observatory in southern Spain.[3]
Kreutz is aMars-crossing asteroid, a member of a dynamically unstable group between themain belt and thenear-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU.[1][3] It has also been classified as a member of the dynamicalHungaria group.[4]
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–1.9 AU once every 2 years and 5 months (878 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.08 and aninclination of 19° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation as noprecoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.[3]
In theSMASS classification,Kreutz is characterized as a common stonyS-type asteroid.[1][4]
In November 2012, a rotationallightcurve ofKreutz was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomerBrian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory (716) in Colorado.[a] Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of280±5 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25magnitude (U=2+),[7] superseding a previous result that gave 39 hours (U=2).[6]
As most asteroids have a much shorter rotation period of 2 to 20 hours,Kreutz'es period of 280 hours is among theTop 200 slow rotators known to exist.
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Kreutz measures 2.94 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.269,[5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 3.41 kilometers using anabsolute magnitude of 14.7.[4]
With a mean-diameter of approximately 3 kilometers,Kreutz is one of the smaller mid-sized Mars-crossing asteroids. It is assumed that there are up to 10 thousand Mars-crossers larger than 1 kilometer.[8] The largest members of this dynamical group are132 Aethra,323 Brucia,2204 Lyyli and512 Taurinensis, which measure between 43 and 25 kilometers in diameter.
Thisminor planet was named afterHeinrich Kreutz (1854–1907), German astronomer at the Kiel Observatory and editor of the journalAstronomische Nachrichten, known for his study of brightsungrazing comets. The family ofKreutz sungrazers, fragments of a parent comet that broke up several centuries ago, is also named after him.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 26 November 2004 (M.P.C. 53173).[9]
