| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Chernykh N. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 August 1978 |
| Designations | |
| (3703) Volkonskaya | |
Named after | Mariya Volkonskaya[1] (Russian princess) |
| 1978 PU3 · 1977 EK6 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (inner) Vesta[3] · Flora[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 64.21yr (23,451 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.6433AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0202 AU |
| 2.3317 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1336 |
| 3.56 yr (1,301 d) | |
| 44.835° | |
| 0° 16m 36.48s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.7415° |
| 172.94° | |
| 152.39° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1(D:1.39 kmP:24 h)[4][5][6][7] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 3.46±0.1 km(derived)[5] 3.729±0.112 km[8][9] 4.11 km(calculated)[4] | |
| 3.235±0.001 h[6][7] | |
| 0.242±0.076[8][9] 0.24(assumed)[4] | |
| V[4] | |
| 14.1[2][4] 14.15±0.28[10] 14.3[9] | |
3703 Volkonskaya, provisional designation1978 PU3, is a Vestianasteroid and asynchronousbinary system from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 August 1978, by Soviet astronomersLyudmila Chernykh andNikolai Chernykh at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula. It was named by the discoverers after the Russian princessMariya Volkonskaya.[1] TheV-type asteroid has arotation period of 3.2 hours. The discovery of its 1.4-kilometerminor-planet moon was announced in December 2005.[5]
Volkonskaya is a member of theVesta family (401),[3] when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements. Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulateeucrites (HED meteorites) and are thought to have originated deep within4 Vesta's crust, possibly from theRheasilvia crater, a largeimpact crater on its southern hemisphere near the South pole, formed as a result of a subcatastrophic collision. Vesta is the main belt'ssecond-largest andsecond-most-massive body afterCeres.[11][12] Based on osculating Keplerianorbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[4]
Volkonskaya orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,301 days;semi-major axis of 2.33 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken at thePalomar Observatory in August 1953, or 25 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnij.[1]
Volkonskaya is aV-type asteroid.[4]
In June 1996, a rotationallightcurve ofVolkonskaya was obtained fromphotometric observations by American astronomerWilliam Ryan. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 3.235 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.22magnitude (U=3).[4][6][7]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Volkonskaya measures 3.729 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.242,[8][9] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the parent body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 4.11 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 14.1.[4]
The photometric observations byWilliam Ryan and collaborators also showed thatVolkonskaya is an asynchronousbinary asteroid with aminor-planet moon orbiting it every 24 hours at an estimated average distance of7.8 km. The discovery was announced in December 2005. The mutualoccultation events suggest the presence of a satellite with an estimated diameter1.39 km or 40% the size of its primary.[4][5][6][7]
Thisminor planet was numbered on 7 October 1987.[5] It was named after Russian princessMariya Volkonskaya (1805–1865), wife ofSergey Volkonsky a Russian GeneralDecembrist. She voluntarily followed her husband to exile in Siberia.[1] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 25 September 1988 (M.P.C. 13609).[13]
