2518 Rutllant
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Torres |
| Discovery site | Cerro El Roble |
| Discovery date | 22 March 1974 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2518 Rutllant |
Named after |
Federico Alcina (astronomer)[2] |
|
1974 FG · 1974 HU 1978 NA3 | |
| main-belt · Flora [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 61.16 yr (22,337 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7089 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9093 AU |
| 2.3091 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1731 |
| 3.51 yr (1,282 days) | |
| 286.77° | |
| Inclination | 5.9242° |
| 205.59° | |
| 38.650° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions |
3.162±0.211 km[4] 5.93 km (calculated)[3] |
| 3.651±0.001 h[5] | |
|
0.7709±0.0492[4] 0.24 (assumed)[3] | |
| S [3] | |
|
13.3[1][3] 13.4[4] | |
|
| |
2518 Rutllant, provisional designation 1974 FG, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, roughly 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Chilean astronomer Carlos Torres at the Cerro El Roble Station of the National Astronomical Observatory in Chile, on 22 March 1974.[6]
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,282 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 6 degrees from the plane of the ecliptic.[1]
In 2010, a photometric light-curve analysis at the U.S. Palmer Divide Observatory (716), Colorado, rendered a well-defined rotation period of 3.651±0.001 hours with a relatively low brightness amplitude of 0.12 in magnitude (U=3).[5] According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid has an untypically high albedo of 0.77 with a diameter of 3.2 kilometer,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a more moderate albedo of 0.24, which matches that of the Flora family's namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora. Consequently, CALL calculates a much larger diameter of 5.9 kilometer, as the lower the albedo (reflectivity), the larger the body's diameter for a given absolute magnitude (brightness).[3]
The minor planet was named in memory of the Spanish-born astronomer Federico Rutllant Alcina (1904–1971), director of the National Astronomical Observatory of the University of Chile in Santiago from 1950 to 1963, and later professor of mathematics at the Federico Santa María Technical University. His principal contributions to Chilean astronomy included the arrangement for moving the observatory from Lo Espejo to its present location at Cerro Calán, an agreement with the University of Florida that created the Maipú Radio Observatory, an agreement with the Universities of Chicago and Texas — and later AURA — that produced the CTIO, and an agreement with the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences that produced the Cerro El Roble Station, where the minor planet was discovered.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2518 Rutllant (1974 FG)" (2015-12-18 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved February 2016.
- 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2518) Rutllant. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 205–206. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (2518) Rutllant". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal 741 (2): 25. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved February 2016.
- 1 2 Warner, Brian D. (April 2011). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: 2010 September-December". Bulletin of the Minor Planets (Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers) 38 (2): 82–86. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38...82W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved February 2016.
- ↑ "2518 Rutllant (1974 FG)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved February 2016.
External links
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 2518 Rutllant at the JPL Small-Body Database
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