| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Z. Vávrová |
| Discovery site | Kleť Obs. |
| Discovery date | 28 May 1981 |
| Designations | |
| (4142) Dersu-Uzala | |
Named after | Dersu Uzala[2] (Siberian trapper and hunter) |
| 1981 KE · 1970 AB 1982 VB | |
| Mars-crosser[3] Hungaria[1][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 48.38yr (17,672 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.2005AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6230 AU |
| 1.9117 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1510 |
| 2.64 yr (965 d) | |
| 71.888° | |
| 0° 22m 22.44s / day | |
| Inclination | 26.494° |
| 60.661° | |
| 55.384° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.01±1.81 km[5] 6.02±0.60 km[6] 6.34±0.19 km[7] | |
| 140±3 h[8][a] | |
| 0.164[7] 0.30[5] 0.307[6] | |
| SMASS =A[3][9] Srw[4][10] | |
| 13.00[6] 13.1[3][4] 13.42[5] 13.60[7] | |
4142 Dersu-Uzala, provisional designation1981 KE, is aHungaria asteroid, sizableMars-crosser and potentiallyslow rotator from the innermost region of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered by Czech astronomerZdeňka Vávrová atKleť Observatory on 28 May 1981.[1] The rareA-type asteroid has arotation period of 140 hours.[4] It was named after the Siberian trapper and hunterDersu Uzala.[1]
Dersu-Uzala is a member of the dynamicalHungaria group of asteroids, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in theSolar System. It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.6–2.2 AU once every 2 years and 8 months (965 days;semi-major axis of 1.91 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.15 and aninclination of 26° with respect to theecliptic. As its orbit crosses that ofMars at 1.66 AU, it is also aMars crossing asteroid.[3] The body'sobservation arc begins with its first observation as1970 AB atCrimea-Nauchnij in January 1970, or 11 years prior to its official discovery observation atKleť Observatory.[1]
Thisminor planet was named afterDersu Uzala, a Siberian trapper and hunter and friend of Russian writerVladimir Arsenyev, who named the main character of his novelDersu Uzala after him. The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 6 February 1993 (M.P.C. 21609).[11]
In theSMASS classification,Dersu-Uzala is anA-type asteroid.[3] It has also been characterized as an Srw-type, a subtype of the stonyS-type asteroids.[10]
In December 2006, a rotationallightcurve ofDersu-Uzala was obtained fromphotometric observations by American photometristBrian Warner at thePalmer Divide Observatory in Colorado. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of140±3 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.60magnitude (U=2).[4][8][a] Alternative observations gave a period of 71 and 71.2 hours, respectively.[12][13]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Dersu-Uzala measures 6.01 and 6.34 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.164 and 0.30, respectively. TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.2 and calculates a diameter of 7.13 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.1.[4]
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