_Th%25C3%25BCringia.png) Modelled shape ofThüringia from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | W. Baade |
| Discovery site | Bergedorf Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 August 1920 |
| Designations | |
| (934) Thüringia | |
| Pronunciation | /θɜːˈrɪndʒiə/[2] |
Named after |
|
| A920 PA · 1920 HK 1952 OP · 1974 HP3 | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 98.68yr (36,042 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.3473AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1546 AU |
| 2.7509 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2168 |
| 4.56 yr (1,667 d) | |
| 273.96° | |
| 0° 12m 57.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 14.076° |
| 325.40° | |
| 64.133° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 8.166±0.006 h[10][11] | |
| (120.0°, −52.0°) (λ1/β1)[6][12] | |
| SMASS =Ch[4] | |
| 10.1[1][4] | |
934 Thüringia (prov. designation:A920 PAor1920 HK) is a darkbackground asteroid, approximately 54 kilometers (34 miles) in diameter, located in the central region of theasteroid belt. It was discovered on 15 August 1920, by astronomerWalter Baade at theBergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany.[1] The hydratedC-type asteroid has arotation period of 8.2 hours and is likely irregular in shape. It was named after the German state ofThuringia. The naming was inspired by the ocean linerSS Thuringia.[3]
Thüringia is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[5][6] It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,667 days;semi-major axis of 2.75 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.22 and aninclination of 14° with respect to theecliptic.[4] The body'sobservation arc begins at theVienna Observatory on 2 September 1920, or 18 nights after its official discovery observation atHamburg Observatory.[1]
Thisminor planet was named after the German state ofThuringia (German:Thüringen). The naming was proposed by the captain of the ocean linerSS Thuringia, which was a ship in the fleet of theHamburg America Line, on which the discoverer,Walter Baade, travelled twice on his visits to New York in the 1920s. As the captain of theSS Thuringia was an amateur astronomer, he was invited by Baade to name one of his discoveries. Thenaming was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 90).[3]
In the Bus–BinzelSMASS classification,Thüringia is a hydrated, carbonaceousC-type asteroid (Ch).[4]
In October 1998, a rotationallightcurve ofThüringia was obtained fromphotometric observations by astronomers of theMinnesota State University Moorhead at Paul Feder Observatory. Analysis of the classically shaped bimodal lightcurve gave a well-definedrotation period of8.166±0.006 hours with a high brightness variation of0.66±0.03magnitude, indicative of an irregular, non-spherical shape (U=3).[10][11] In October 2007, another period determination by Federico Manzini, Hiromi Hamanowa and Hiroko Hamanowa determined a period of8.16446±0.00006 hours and an amplitude of0.52±0.01 magnitude (U=3).[11][13] In 2011, a modeled lightcurve using data from the Uppsala Asteroid Photometric Catalogue (UAPC) and other sources gave a sidereal period 8.16534 hours, as well as aspin axis of (120.0°, −52.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β) (U=2).[12]
According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the JapaneseAkari satellite,Thüringia measures (53.35±5.2), (53.714±0.361) and (58.00±0.70) kilometers in diameter and its surface has a lowalbedo of (0.0471±0.011), (0.047±0.006) and (0.041±0.001), respectively.[7][8][9]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0564 and a diameter of 53.45 km based on anabsolute magnitude of 10.1.[11] Further published mean-diameters and albedos by the WISE team include (49.91±14.77 km), (50.24±13.36 km), (53.310±14.66 km), (53.333±18.03 km) and (62.572±1.232 km) with corresponding albedos of (0.06±0.04), (0.05±0.04), (0.0501±0.0465), (0.0528±0.0460), and (0.0342±0.0200).[6][11]
