1179 Mally, provisional designation , is an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

and long- lost minor planet from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by

Max Wolf Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (21 June 1863 – 3 October 1932) was a German astronomer and a pioneer in the field of astrophotography. He was the chairman of astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg-K� ...

in 1931, the asteroid was lost until its rediscovery in 1986. The discoverer named it after his daughter-in-law, Mally Wolf.

Discovery and rediscovery

''Mally'' was discovered on 19 March 1931, by German astronomer

at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. Soon after its initial discovery, it became one of few well known

lost minor planets Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

for over 55 years. In 1986, ''Mally'' was rediscovered by astronomers

Lutz Schmadel Lutz Dieter Schmadel (2 July 1942, in Berlin – 21 October 2016) was a German astronomer and a prolific discoverer of asteroids, who worked at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI) of the University of Heidelberg. His special interest wa ...

Richard Martin West Richard Martin West (born 1941) is a Danish astronomer and discoverer of astronomical objects with a long career at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and at the International Astronomical Union (IAU). He discovered numerous comets, includi ...

and

Hans-Emil Schuster Hans-Emil Schuster (born September 19, 1934 in Hamburg) is a German astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets, who retired in October 1991. He worked at Hamburg Observatory at Bergedorf and European Southern Observatory (ESO), and ...

, who remeasured the original discovery plates and computed alternative search ephemerides. This allowed them to find the body very near to its predicted position. In addition, historic

photographic plate Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...

s from the Palomar Sky Survey (1956–1958), the UK Schmidt Telescope (Australia), and the

ESO Schmidt Telescope La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observatory is ...

(Chile) confirmed the rediscovery.

Orbit and classification

''Mally'' orbits the Sun in the

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

main-belt at a distance of 2.2–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,548 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 9 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1931.

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, ''Mally'' measures between 11.20 and 16.60 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.059 and 0.097. The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes an albedo of 0.10 – a compromise value between the brighter stony (0.20) and darker carbonaceous asteroids (0.057) used for bodies with a

semi-major axis In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter: a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the two most widely separated points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis (major semiaxis) is the long ...

between 2.6 and 2.7 AU – and calculates a diameter of 10.7 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.98.

Rotation period

In September 2013, a rotational lightcurve of ''Mally'' was obtained from photometric observations taken at the

Palomar Transient Factory The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF, obs. code: I41), was an astronomical survey using a wide-field survey camera designed to search for optical transient and variable sources such as variable stars, supernovae, asteroids and comets. The projec ...

in California. The fragmentary lightcurve gave a longer than average

rotation period The rotation period of a celestial object (e.g., star, gas giant, planet, moon, asteroid) may refer to its sidereal rotation period, i.e. the time that the object takes to complete a single revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the ...

of 46.6 hours with a brightness variation of 0.08 magnitude. However, the obtained result is poorly rated by CALL ().

Naming

This minor planet was named after Mally Wolf, wife of Franz Wolf and the discoverer's daughter-in-law. The official naming citation was published by Paul Herget in '' The Names of the Minor Planets'' in 1955 ().