| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 5 October 1926 |
| Designations | |
| (1076) Viola | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈvaɪ.ələ/ [2] |
Named after | Viola (flowering plant) [3] |
| 1926 TE | |
| main-belt ·(inner) Nysa [4] · background [5] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 90.48 yr (33,048 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.8323 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1164 AU |
| 2.4744 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1447 |
| 3.89 yr (1,422 days) | |
| 70.608° | |
| 0° 15m 11.52s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.3195° |
| 143.71° | |
| 304.08° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 21.412±7.130 km [6] 21.43±6.81 km [7] 22.0±2.2 km [8] 22.273±0.069 km [9] 22.298±0.117 km [10] 22.63±2.7 km [11] 23.57±7.70 km [12] 24±2 km [13] 26.39±0.61 km [14] |
| 7.336 h [15] | |
| 0.032±0.002 [14] 0.0375±0.0535 [6] 0.04±0.01 [8] [13] 0.04±0.02 [12] 0.04±0.05 [7] 0.041±0.004 [10] 0.0415±0.012 [11] 0.0428±0.0046 [9] | |
| Tholen = F [1] SMASS = C [1] [4] B–V = 0.629 [1] U–B = 0.250 [1] | |
| 12.21 [12] ·12.30 [1] [4] [6] [7] [8] [9] [11] [13] [14] | |
1076 Viola /ˈvaɪ.ələ/ , [16] provisional designation 1926 TE, is a Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1926, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. [17] The asteroid was named after the flowering plant Viola . [3]
Viola is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the Hierarchical Clustering Method to its proper orbital elements. [5] The asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Nysa family ( 405 ), [4] the largest asteroid family of the main belt, consisting of stony and carbonaceous subfamilies. The family, named after 44 Nysa, is located near the Kirkwood gap (3:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter), a depleted zone that separates the central main belt.
Viola orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 11 months (1,422 days; semi-major axis of 2.47 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. [1] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg in January 1951, or more than 24 years after its official discovery observation. [17]
In the Tholen classification, Viola is a rare F-type asteroid, while in the SMASS taxonomy, it is classified as a common, carbonaceous C-type. [1] [4]
In the 1980s, a rotational lightcurve of Viola was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Richard Binzel. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 7.336 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.12 magnitude ( U=3 ). [15] A tentative period of 14.4 hours was measured by French amateur astronomer René Roy in January 2009, but later retracted from the LCDB ( U=n.a. ). [4] [18]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Viola measures between 21.412 and 26.39 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.032 and 0.0428. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0415 and a diameter of 22.63 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.30. [4] [11]
This minor planet was named after Viola , a genus of flowering plants within the violet family. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 ( H 102 ). [3]
Due to his many discoveries, Karl Reinmuth submitted a large list of 66 newly named asteroids in the early 1930s. The list covered his discoveries with numbers between (1009) and (1200). This list also contained a sequence of 28 asteroids, starting with 1054 Forsytia, that were all named after plants, in particular flowering plants (also see list of minor planets named after animals and plants). [19]
