1851 Lacroute

1851 Lacroute
Discovery[1]
Discovered by L. Boyer
Discovery site Algiers Observatory
Discovery date 9 November 1950
Designations
MPC designation 1851 Lacroute
Named after
Pierre Lacroute
(astronomer)[2]
1950 VA
main-belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 64.90 yr (23,705 days)
Aphelion 3.7022 AU
Perihelion 2.5047 AU
3.1034 AU
Eccentricity 0.1929
5.47 yr (1,997 days)
301.32°
Inclination 1.6661°
24.773°
343.34°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 16.89 km (IRAS)
0.0745 (IRAS)
12.6

    1851 Lacroute, provisional designation 1950 VA, is an asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, about 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 November 1950 by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers Observatory in the capital of Algeria, Northern Africa.[3]

    The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.5–3.7 AU once every five and a half years (1,997 days). The somewhat eccentric orbit of 0.19 is nearly coplanar with the ecliptic, tilted by only 1.7 degrees. Lacroute has a geometric albedo of 0.075, as measured by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS.[1]

    It was named in honor of French astronomer Pierre Lacroute (1906–1993), a known astrometrist, president of IAU's Commission 24 in the 1970s, and director of the Observatory of Strasbourg, instrumental in the establishment of the Stellar Data Center (also see SIMBAD). He also made an independent reduction of the astrometric star catalogue AGK3, using a technique involving overlapping photographic plates.[2]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1851 Lacroute (1950 VA)" (2015-10-04 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved November 2015.
    2. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1851) Lacroute. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 148. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved November 2015.
    3. "1851 Lacroute (1950 VA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved November 2015.

    External links


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