| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 18 March 1922 |
| Designations | |
| (974) Lioba | |
| Pronunciation | /liˈoʊbə/[citation needed] |
Named after | SaintLeoba (missionary to Germany)[2] |
| A922 FC · 1930 DA1 A906 FG · A916 UO 1922 LS · 1906 FG | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (middle) background[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 113.13yr (41,319 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.8155AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2536 AU |
| 2.5346 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1109 |
| 4.04 yr (1,474 d) | |
| 248.30° | |
| 0° 14m 39.48s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.4563° |
| 86.678° | |
| 301.86° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 38.7 h[5][9] | |
| 10.4[1][3] | |
974 Lioba (prov. designation:A922 FCor1922 LS) is a stonybackground asteroid from the central regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 18 March 1922, by astronomerKarl Reinmuth at theHeidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southern Germany.[1] TheS-type asteroid has a longer than averagerotation period of 38.7 hours. It was named after missionary SaintLeoba (Lioba).[2]
Lioba is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[4] It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.3–2.8 AU once every 4.04 years (1,474 days;semi-major axis of 2.53 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.11 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The asteroid was first observed asA906 FG (1906 FG) at theHeidelberg Observatory in March 1906, where the body'sobservation arc begins 16 years later, with its official discovery observation in March 1922.[1]
Thisminor planet was named after SaintLeoba (also Lioba) (c. 710–782), abbess inTauberbischofsheim, Germany, who helpedSaint Boniface spreading Christianity throughout Germany. In 782, she was buried near Bonifatius in Fulda, Germany. The author of theDictionary of Minor Planet Names confirmed the naming from private communications with Dutch astronomerIngrid van Houten-Groeneveld, who worked as a young astronomer at Heidelberg.[2]
In theTholen classification,Lioba is a common stonyS-type asteroid.[3][5]
In May 1984, a rotationallightcurve ofLioba was obtained fromphotometric observations by American astronomerRichard Binzel during a survey of 130 asteroids at the University of TexasMcDonald Observatory andCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined, longer-than averagerotation period of 38.7 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.37magnitude (U=3).[9] In April 2007, a poorly rated period determination by French amateur astronomerRené Roy gave 15.6 hours (0.65000 days) or more (U=1).[10]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope,Lioba measures between18.39±2.6 and28.71±0.91 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo between 0.16 and 0.40.[6][7][8] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.3609 from the IRAS results, and calculates a diameter of 18.23 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 11.8.[11]
