| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | G. Reiss |
| Discovery site | Algiers Obs. |
| Discovery date | 29 October 1935 |
| Designations | |
| (1376) Michelle | |
Named after | Michelle Reiss (discoverer's daughter) [2] |
| 1935 UH ·1931 JK | |
| main-belt · Flora [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 81.02 yr (29,594 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7085 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.7478 AU |
| 2.2282 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2156 |
| 3.33 yr (1,215 days) | |
| 216.89° | |
| 0° 17m 46.68s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.5516° |
| 163.47° | |
| 156.05° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 7.053±0.119 km [4] [5] 7.10 km (taken) [3] 7.104 km [6] 9.12±2.51 km [7] |
| 5.9748±0.0002 h [8] 5.9766±0.0004 h [9] 5.9769±0.0005 h [10] 6.0±0.5 h [11] | |
| 0.263 [3] [6] 0.267±0.058 [4] [5] 0.28±0.17 [7] | |
| S [3] | |
| 12.4 [1] [7] ·12.81 [3] [4] ·12.81±0.04 [6] [11] | |
1376 Michelle, provisional designation 1935 UH, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 29 October 1935, by French astronomer Guy Reiss at the North African Algiers Observatory in Algeria. [12] It is named after the discoverer's third daughter, Michelle Reiss. [2] [13]
Michelle is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest populations of stony S-type asteroids in the entire main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,215 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. [1] Michelle was first identified as 1931 JK at Lowell Observatory in 1931. The body's observation arc, however, begins with its official discovery observation at Algiers. [12]
In October 2008, a group of French and Japanese astronomers obtained two rotational light-curves of Michelle from photometric observations. Light-curve analysis gave a well defined rotation period of 5.9748 and 5.9766 hours with a brightness variation of 0.20 and 0.13 magnitude, respectively ( U=3/3 ). [8] [9] The results concur with a period of 5.9769 hours obtained by a group of Polish astronomers in April 2004 ( U=2 ), [10] and with a period of 6.0 hours measured by JPL-photometrist Wiesław Wiśniewski in the 1980s ( U=2+ ). [11]
According to the 2015-published results by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Michelle measures 9.12 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.28, [7] while preliminary results gave a diameter of 7.1 kilometers and an albedo of 0.267. [4] [5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts an albedo of 0.263 and a diameter of 7.10 kilometers, taken from Petr Pravec's 2012-revised WISE results. [3] [6]
This minor planet was named for Michelle Reiss, the third daughter of the discoverer. [2] The discoverer also named 1237 Geneviève and 1300 Marcelle after his other two daughters. Naming was first cited in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 ( H 125 ). [2]
