12999 Toruń
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12999 Toruń, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous Baptistina asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 August 1981, by British–American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, and named after the Polish city of Toruń.


Orbit and classification

''Toruń'' is a carbonaceous C-type asteroid and a member of the small Baptistina family. It orbits the Sun in the Kirkwood gap, inner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.7 Astronomical unit, AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,252 days). Its orbit has an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity of 0.19 and an orbital inclination, inclination of 6Degree (angle), ° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Goethe Link Observatory in 1957, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 24 years prior to its discovery.


Physical characteristics


Rotation period

A rotational lightcurve of ''Toruń'' was obtained from Photometry (astronomy), photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory in December 2009. The provisional lightcurve gave a rotation period of hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.09 in Magnitude (astronomy), magnitude ().


Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, ''Toruń'' measures 3.5 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a very high astronomical albedo, albedo of 0.39. The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' (CALL) disagrees with the findings by the space-based mission and assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057, with a correspondingly larger diameter of 8.0 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.22. As with 1696 Nurmela, another member of the Baptistina family, CALL assumes this asteroid's composition ''(also see carbonaceous chondrites)'' to differ significantly from the much brighter asteroid 298 Baptistina, which is considered to be an interloper in its own family.


Naming

In 2008, this minor planet was named after the city of Toruń, Poland. It is the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, significant to Polish and European history, a UNESCO World Heritage listed Old Town, and the main site of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, where its observatory at Piwnice, the largest in Poland, is located. The naming followed a suggestion by Polish astronomer T. Michałowski. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center 21 March 2008 ().


References


External links


Baptistina Asteroid Family and K/T Mass Extinction
Vishnu Reddy, 2013
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
query form

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Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books

– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend

– Minor Planet Center * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torun Baptistina asteroids, 012999 Discoveries by Edward L. G. Bowell Named minor planets Astronomical objects discovered in 1981, 19810830 History of Toruń