1910 Mikhailov, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous
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 outer regions of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
, approximately in diameter. Discovered at
Nauchnyj
The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO, obs. code: 095) is located at Nauchnij research campus, near the Central Crimean city of Bakhchysarai, on the Crimean peninsula. CrAO is often called simply by its location and campus name, ...
in 1972, it was named after Russian astronomer Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikhailov. It has a 3:1 ratio of iron to carbon, hence the name. The asteroid is believed to have been expelled from its parent asteroid belt (one of three main asteroid belts in the inner Solar System), and is classified as a metallic asteroid, because its iron is fairly weak.
Discovery
''Mikhailov'' was discovered on 8 October 1972, by Ukrainian astronomer
Lyudmila Zhuravleva
Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva (russian: Людмила Васильевна Журавлёва, uk, Людмила Василівна Журавльова, Ljudmyla Vasylivna Žuravljova; born 22 May 1946) is a Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian ast ...
at the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory
The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO, List of observatory codes, obs. code: IAU code#095, 095) is located at Nauchnij research campus, near the Central Crimean city of Bakhchysarai, on the Crimean peninsula. CrAO is often called ...
in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.
Zhuravleva is ranked 61 in Harvard's ranking of those who discovered minor planets. Detween 1972 and 1992, She discovered 200 such bodies, 13 of which were co-discoveries.
Orbit and classification
The
C-type asteroid
C-type (carbonaceous) asteroids are the most common variety, forming around 75% of known asteroids. They are volatile-rich and distinguished by a very low albedo because their composition includes a large amount of carbon, in addition to rocks ...
is a non-
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
asteroid that belongs to the background population of the main belt. It orbits the Sun in the