2420 Čiurlionis, provisionally designated , is a stony Eunomian
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 central 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 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 October 1975, by Soviet astronomer
Nikolai Chernykh at the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula, and later named after Lithuanian painter and composer
Mikalojus Čiurlionis.
Orbit and classification
''Čiurlionis'' is a member of the
Eunomia family, a large group of
S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the
intermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.2–2.9
AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,496 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.13 and an
inclination of 15
° 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 ...
.
Physical characteristics
Lightcurves
Two 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 ...
s of ''Čiurlionis'' were obtained from photometric observations. Lightcurve analysis gave a
rotation period of 12.84 and 15.760 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.48 and 0.51
magnitude, respectively ().
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the
NEOWISE mission of NASA's
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, ''Čiurlionis'' measures 8.444 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an
albedo of 0.327.
The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes an albedo of 0.21 – derived from
15 Eunomia, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 10.06 kilometers based on an
absolute magnitude of 12.3.
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 after Lithuanian
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
painter and composer
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911).
The approved naming citation was published by the
Minor Planet Center on 17 February 1984 ().
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:Ciurlionis
002420
Discoveries by Nikolai Chernykh
Named minor planets
19751003