136 Austria is a main-belt asteroid that was found by the prolific asteroid discoverer Johann Palisa on March 18, 1874 from the Austrian Naval Observatory in Pola, Istria.[3] It was his first asteroid discovery and was given the Latin name of his homeland.
Based upon its spectrum, it is classified as an M-type spectrum, although Clark et al (1994) suggest it may be more like an S-type asteroid.[4] It shows almost no absorption features in the near infrared, which may indicate an iron or enstatite chondrite surface composition. A weak hydration feature was detected in 2006.[5]
Photometric observations of this asteroid at the European Southern Observatory in 1981 gave a light curve with a period of 11.5 ± 0.1 hours and a brightness variation of 0.40 in magnitude.[2] As of 2013, the estimated rotation period is 11.4969[6] hours.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Yeomans, Donald K., "136 Austria", JPL Small-Body Database Browser (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), retrieved 2013-03-25.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Schober, H. J. (January 1983), "Rotation periods and lightcurves of the asteroids 136 Austria and 238 Hypatia", Astronomy and Astrophysics 117 (2): 362–364, Bibcode:1983A&A...117..362S.
- ↑ Albrecht, R. et al. (July 2001), "Early asteroid research in Austria", Planetary and Space Science 49 (8): 777–779, Bibcode:2001P&SS...49..777A, doi:10.1016/S0032-0633(01)00027-7.
- ↑ Clark, B. E. et al. (March 1994), "Infrared Spectral Observations of Smaller (50 km) Main Belt S, K, and M Type Asteroids", Abstracts of the 25th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, held in Houston, TX, 14-18 March 1994: 265–266, Bibcode:1994LPI....25..265C.
- ↑ Hardersen, Paul S.; Gaffey, Michael J.; Abell, Paul A. (January 1983), "Near-IR spectral evidence for the presence of iron-poor orthopyroxenes on the surfaces of six M-type asteroids", Icarus 175 (1): 141–158, Bibcode:2005Icar..175..141H, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.10.017, retrieved 2013-03-30.
- ↑ Behrend, Raoul, Courbes de rotation d'astéroïdes et de comètes (in French), Observatoire de Genève, retrieved 2013-03-30