| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. Zhuravleva |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 20 September 1974 |
| Designations | |
| (3771) Alexejtolstoj | |
Named after | Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy(Soviet writer)[2] |
| 1974 SB3 · 1954 QF 1984 SG5 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.77 yr (22,925 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.6010AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8491 AU |
| 2.2251 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1690 |
| 3.32yr (1,212 days) | |
| 323.78° | |
| 0° 17m 49.2s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.5495° |
| 249.34° | |
| 137.38° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.71 km(calculated)[3] |
| 11.0942±0.0116h[4] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 13.871±0.002(R)[4] · 14.0[1] · 14.19±0.33[5] · 14.32[3] | |
3771 Alexejtolstoj (provisional designation1974 SB3) is a stony Floraasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 3.7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 September 1974, by Russian–Ukrainian astronomerLyudmila Zhuravleva at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on the Crimean peninsula.[6] The asteroid was named after writerAleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy.[2]
TheS-type asteroid is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,212 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It was first identified as1954 QF atHeidelberg Observatory in 1954. The body'sobservation arc begins at Nauchnyj with its official discovery observation made in 1974.[6]
A fragmentary rotationallightcurve was obtained from photometric observation made at thePalomar Transient Factory in California in December 2011. The lightcurve gave a provisionalrotation period of11.0942±0.0116 hours with a low brightness amplitude of 0.08 inmagnitude (U=1).[4] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes analbedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 3.7 kilometers.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after Soviet writer and public figure,Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1883–1945).[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 19 October 1994(M.P.C. 24121).[7]
