11824 Alpaidze, provisional designation ', is a stony background
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.
...
from the middle region of the
asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 16 September 1982, by Russian astronomer
Lyudmila Chernykh at the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for Soviet General
Galaktion Alpaidze.
Orbit and classification
''Alpaidze'' is a non-
family asteroid from the main belt's
background population. It 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 1.8–3.4
AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,563 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.31 and an
inclination of 2
° with respect to the
ecliptic.
It was first identified as ' at
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
in November 1978. The body's
observation arc, however, begins with its official discovery observation.
Naming
This
minor planet was named after Georgian-born Soviet Lieutenant General
Galaktion Alpaidze (1916–2006),
Hero of the Soviet Union and laureate of the
USSR State Prize. He was the head of the
Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the 1960s and 1970s, where space crafts were tested. During his supervision, the Cosmodrome became the world's most active
launch site in the world.
The official naming citation was published by the
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Function
...
on 2 April 2007 ().
Physical characteristics
Lightcurves
In September 2009, two rotational
lightcurves of ''Alpaidze'' were obtained from photometric observations made by astronomers 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 ...
, California. The fragmentary lightcurves gave a
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 and hours with a brightness variation of 0.05 and 0.06 in
magnitude, respectively ().
Diameter and albedo
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an
albedo of 0.10 – a compromise value between the
stony (0.20) and
carbonaceous (0.057) albedos for unknown asteroids in the 2.6–2.7 AU region of the main-belt – and calculates a diameter of 4.8 kilometers with an
absolute magnitude of 14.7.
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
– Minor Planet Center
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpaidze
011824
Discoveries by Lyudmila Chernykh
Named minor planets
19820916