| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | S. Belyavskyj |
| Discovery site | Simeiz Obs. |
| Discovery date | 5 November 1921 |
| Designations | |
| (969) Leocadia | |
| Pronunciation | /liːoʊˈkeɪdiə/[2] |
Named after | unknown[3] |
| A921 VC · 1940 RV 1944 SB · 1948 UG 1963 PA · 1921 KZ | |
| main-belt[1][4] · (inner) background[5][6] | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 98.12yr (35,837 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.9694AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9537 AU |
| 2.4615 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2063 |
| 3.86 yr (1,411 d) | |
| 199.53° | |
| 0° 15m 18.72s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.2928° |
| 287.76° | |
| 91.332° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.87±0.01 h[10][11] | |
| 12.8[1][4] | |
969 Leocadia (prov. designation:A921 VCor1921 KZ) is a very darkbackground asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 5 November 1921, by Russian astronomerSergey Belyavsky at theSimeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.[1] The uncommonF-type asteroid (FX) has arotation period of 6.9 hours and is likely regular in shape.[10] Any reference of the asteroid's name to a person is unknown.[3]
Leocadia 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 theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,411 days;semi-major axis of 2.46 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.21 and aninclination of 2° with respect to theecliptic.[4] The body'sobservation arc begins atUccle Observatory in February 1933, more than a decade after its official discovery observationSimeiz Observatory on 5 November 1921.[1]
Thisminor planet is named after a Feminine Russian first name. Any reference of this name to a person or occurrence is unknown.[3]
Among the many thousands ofnamed minor planets, Leocadia is one of 120 asteroids, for which no official naming citation has been published. All of these low-numbered asteroids have numbers between164 Eva and1514 Ricouxa and were discovered between 1876 and the 1930s, predominantly by astronomersAuguste Charlois,Johann Palisa,Max Wolf andKarl Reinmuth.[12]
In theTholen classification (FXU:), Leocadia is an uncommon and darkF-type asteroid, somewhat similar to that of anX-type, though with an unusual (U) and noisy (:) spectra.[4]
In December 2006, a rotationallightcurve of Leocadia was obtained fromphotometric observations by Italian amateur astronomers Roberto Crippa and Federico Manzini at the Sozzago Astronomical Station (A12). Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of6.87±0.01 hours with a brightness amplitude of0.14±0.01magnitude (U=2), which is indicative of a rather spherical, non-irregular shape.[10][11]
According to the surveys carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the JapaneseAkari satellite, and the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, Leocadia measures17.321±0.218,19.37±0.22 and19.51±0.7 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a very lowalbedo of0.019±0.005,0.0435±0.003 and0.045±0.001, respectively.[7][8][9] Additional measurements by the WISE telescope were published giving amean diameter as low as13.58±3.09 km.[11] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the result from IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0435 and a diameter of 19.51 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 9.22.[11]
Anasteroid occultation on 19 August 2013, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of 19.0 × 19.0 kilometers.[6] These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star. However the measurements for Leocadia were of poor quality.[6]
