| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. Tom Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (8121) Altdorfer | |
Named after | Albrecht Altdorfer (Renaissance painter)[2] |
| 2572 P-L · 1972 GR1 1990 SU29 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 54.60 yr (19,942 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.4633AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0129 AU |
| 2.2381 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1006 |
| 3.35yr (1,223 days) | |
| 259.90° | |
| 0° 17m 39.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.6838° |
| 9.5259° | |
| 113.38° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 2.06 km(calculated)[3] 2.474±0.491 km[4][5] |
| 4.0221±0.0018h[6] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.347±0.129[4][5] | |
| S[3][7] | |
| 14.8[4] · 15.0[1] · 15.143±0.006(R)[6] · 15.56±0.31[7] · 15.59[3] | |
8121 Altdorfer, provisional designation2572 P-L, is a stony Floraasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. Discovered during thePalomar–Leiden survey in 1960, the asteroid was later named for Renaissance painterAlbrecht Altdorfer.
Altdorfer was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer coupleIngrid andCornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomerTom Gehrels atPalomar Observatory in California, United States.[8] Noprecoveries were taken, and no identifications were made prior to its official discovery observation.[8]
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands forPalomar–Leiden, named after the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey, a collaboration between the Palomar andLeiden Observatory in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar'sSamuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped thephotographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory whereastrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.[9]
Altdorfer 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 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,223 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.10 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
Altdorfer has been characterized as a commonS-type asteroid byPan-STARRS photometric survey.[7]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Altdorfer measures 2.5 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.35,[4][5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from the family's principal body and namesake, the asteroid8 Flora – and calculates a diameter of 2.1 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 15.59.[3]
A rotationallightcurve ofAltdorfer was obtained throughphotometric observations taken at thePalomar Transient Factory in January 2012. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of4.0221 hours with a brightness variation of 0.34magnitude (U=2).[6]
Thisminor planet was named in honour of German Renaissance painterAlbrecht Altdorfer (1480–1538). As a member of theDanube school, he was the first to paint landscapes without figures. Altdorfer was also an architect of the city of Regensburg, Germany, after which the minor planet927 Ratisbona is named, and was also a significantprintmaker, with numerous (copper)engravings andwoodcuts.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 2 April 1999 (M.P.C. 34345).[10]
