2348 Michkovitch, provisional designation ', is a presumed carbonaceous Erigone
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
from the inner regions of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...
, approximately in diameter. It was discovered by Serbian astronomer
Milorad Protić
Milorad (Cyrillic script: Милорад; Polish: ''Miłorad'') is a Serbian masculine given name derived from the Slavic elements: ''milo'' meaning "gracious, dear" and ''rad'' meaning "happy, eager".
Its feminine form is Milorada. Nicknames ...
at
Belgrade Observatory
The Belgrade Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in the Zvezdara Forest in the eastern part of Belgrade, Serbia.
History Origin (1887–1891)
In 1879, Milan Nedeljković (1857–1950) received a scholarship to continue his ...
on 10 January 1939.
The asteroid was named after Serbian astronomer
Vojislav Mišković
Vojislav Mišković (Serbian Cyrillic: ''Војислав Мишковић''; 1892, Fužine – 1976, Belgrade) was a Yugoslav astronomer, head of the Belgrade Observatory
The Belgrade Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in th ...
.
Orbit and classification
''Michkovitch'' is a member of the
Erigone family, named after
163 Erigone
163 Erigone is an asteroid from the asteroid belt and the namesake of the Erigone family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements and properties. It was discovered by French astronomer Henri Joseph Perrotin on April 26, 1876, and named ...
, its largest member and namesake.
It is a rather young cluster (170–280 My) of dark
carbonaceous Carbonaceous refers to something relating to, containing, or composed of carbon. It is a descriptor used for the attribute of any substance rich in carbon. Particularly, ''carbonaceous hydrocarbons'' are very unsaturated, high- molecular-weight h ...
asteroids in the inner asteroid belt, which otherwise consists mostly of
stony asteroids.
It orbits the Sun in the
inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.8
AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,356 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (g ...
of 0.17 and an
inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object.
For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...
of 5
° with respect to the
ecliptic
The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth's orbit, Earth around the Sun. It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making.
Fr ...
.
No
precoveries
In astronomy, precovery (short for pre-discovery recovery) is the process of finding the image of a celestial object in images or photographic plates predating its discovery, typically for the purpose of calculating a more accurate orbit. This ha ...
were taken. The asteroid's
observation arc
In observational astronomy, the observation arc (or arc length) of a Solar System body is the time period between its earliest and latest observations, used for tracing the body's path. It is usually given in days or years. The term is mostly use ...
starts 15 days after its official discovery with the first used observation taken at the
Royal Observatory of Belgium
The Royal Observatory of Belgium (; ; ) has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels since 1890. It is part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO).
The Royal Observatory was first established in S ...
.
Naming
This
minor planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
was named by the discoverer after his professor Vojislav Mišković (1892–1976), first director of the new Belgrade Observatory and founder of the Astronomical Institute at
SANU
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS).
The Academy's membership has included Nobel laureates Ivo ...
.
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.
Funct ...
on 7 March 1985 ().
Physical characteristics
Rotation period
A 2011-published rotational
lightcurve
In astronomy, a light curve is a graph (discrete mathematics), graph of the Radiance, light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude (astronomy), magnitude of light received on the ''y''-axis ...
of ''Michkovitch'' was obtained from photometric observations by Australian amateur astronomer David Higgins. Lightcurve analysis gave a longer-than average
rotation period
In astronomy, the rotation period or spin period of a celestial object (e.g., star, planet, moon, asteroid) has two definitions. The first one corresponds to the '' sidereal rotation period'' (or ''sidereal day''), i.e., the time that the objec ...
of 28 hours with a brightness variation of 0.12 in
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
().
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the
NEOWISE
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) was a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009.. . WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and nu ...
mission of NASA's
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, List of observatory codes, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) was a NASA infrared astronomy Space observatory, space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009.. . WISE L ...
, ''Michkovitch'' measures 4.6 and 4.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an outstanding
albedo
Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...
of 0.84 and 0.92, respectively.
The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' strongly disagrees with the result obtained by the space-based observatory and assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a much larger diameter of 15.4 kilometers, as the lower the body's albedo (reflectivity), the larger its diameter at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).
Notes
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
– Minor Planet Center
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michkovitch
002348
Discoveries by Milorad B. Protić
Named minor planets
19390110