Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Harvard College Obs. |
Discovery site | Agassiz Stn. |
Discovery date | 2 February 1975 |
Designations | |
(1940) Whipple | |
Named after | Fred L. Whipple (American astronomer) [2] |
1975 CA ·1932 AD 1950 LH ·1962 SH 1970 EC1 ·1971 KD1 1971 KN ·A916 AD | |
main-belt ·(outer) [3] | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 54.50 yr (19,907 days) |
Aphelion | 3.2556 AU |
Perihelion | 2.8656 AU |
3.0606 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.0637 |
5.35 yr (1,956 days) | |
18.583° | |
0° 11m 2.76s / day | |
Inclination | 6.5587° |
263.80° | |
179.82° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 32.57±0.43 km [4] 33.83 km (derived) [3] 33.87±1.3 km [5] 36.34±0.66 km [6] 37.481±0.250 km [7] 40.431±0.471 km [8] |
5.78±0.03 h [9] 6.953±0.003 h [10] | |
0.0430±0.0097 [8] 0.054±0.002 [6] 0.0560 (derived) [3] 0.060±0.009 [4] 0.0613±0.005 [5] | |
C [3] [11] | |
11.0 [5] [6] [8] ·11.1 [1] [3] [4] ·11.16±0.27 [11] | |
1940 Whipple (prov. designation: 1975 CA) is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers (22 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 2 February 1975, by the Harvard College Observatory at its George R. Agassiz Station near Harvard, Massachusetts, in the United States, and named after astronomer Fred Whipple. [12]
Whipple orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.9–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 4 months (1,956 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. [1] The first used observation was made at Goethe Link Observatory in 1962, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 13 years prior to its discovery observation. [12]
This minor planet was named after American astronomer Fred Lawrence Whipple (1906–2004), author of the icy conglomerate model, also known as the dirty snowball hypothesis . [2]
Whipple worked at the Harvard College Observatory for over 70 years and was the director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory where he developed new methods imaging meteors. He was also president of several commissions at the International Astronomical Union and on NASA's panel for missions to small Solar System bodies. [2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 June 1975 ( M.P.C. 3828). [13]
Whipple has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS photometric survey. [11]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 32.6 and 40.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo between 0.04 and 0.06. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.056 and a diameter of 33.8 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 11.1. [3]
In December 2011, a rotational lightcurve was obtained for this asteroid from photometric observations by American astronomer Russel Durkee at the Shed of Science Observatory ( H39 ). It gave a well-defined rotation period of 6.953±0.003 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 magnitude ( U=3 ), [10] superseding a period of 5.78±0.03 hours previously obtained by French astronomer René Roy in 2005 ( U=2 ). [9]
Pawlowia, provisional designation 1923 OX, is a background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1923, by Soviet astronomer Vladimir Albitsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after Russian physiologist and Nobelist Ivan Pavlov.
La Paz, provisional designation 1923 PD, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 40 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 31 October 1923, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory and named after the city La Paz in Bolivia.
1031 Arctica, provisional designation 1924 RR, is a dark asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 75 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 6 June 1924, by Soviet−Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. It was named for the Arctic Sea.
1033 Simona, provisional designation 1924 SM, is a stony Eoan asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered by George Van Biesbroeck in 1924, who named it after his daughter Simona.
1118 Hanskya is a large background asteroid, approximately 77 kilometers in diameter, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. Discovered by Sergey Belyavsky and Nikolaj Ivanov in 1927, it was named after Russian astronomer Aleksey Hansky. The presumed dark C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 15.6 hours.
1123 Shapleya, provisional designation 1928 ST, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 September 1928, by Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. It was named after American astronomer Harlow Shapley.
1132 Hollandia, provisional designation 1929 RB1, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 27 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 September 1929, by Dutch astronomer Hendrik van Gent at Leiden Southern Station, annex to the Johannesburg Observatory in South Africa. It was named for the region Holland in the Netherlands.
1567 Alikoski, provisional designation 1941 HN, is a rare-type carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 67 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 April 1941, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland. It was later named after Finnish astronomer Heikki Alikoski.
1457 Ankara, provisional designation 1937 PA, is a stony asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 18 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 August 1937, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany, and later named for the Turkish capital city of Ankara.
1252 Celestia, provisional designation 1933 DG, is a stony asteroid located in the central asteroid belt. It was discovered on 19 February 1933, by astronomer Fred Whipple at the Oak Ridge Observatory operated by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts, United States. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 10.6 hours and measures approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was named after the discoverer's mother, Celestia MacFarland Whipple.
1295 Deflotte, provisional designation 1933 WD, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 48 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 November 1933, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers Observatory in Algeria, North Africa. The asteroid was named after the discoverer's nephew.
1541 Estonia, provisional designation 1939 CK, is an asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 February 1939, by astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at the Iso-Heikkilä Observatory near Turku, Finland. The asteroid was named after the Baltic country of Estonia.
2173 Maresjev, provisional designation 1974 QG1, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 28 kilometers (17 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 22 August 1974, by Soviet–Ukrainian astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravleva at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula. It was named for Soviet war veteran Alexey Maresyev. The assumed C-type asteroid has a tentative rotation period of 11.6 hours.
1303 Luthera, provisional designation 1928 FP, is a dark asteroid and the parent body of the Luthera family, located in the outermost regions of the asteroid belt. It measures approximately 90 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 16 March 1928, by astronomer Friedrich Schwassmann at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany, and later named after German astronomer Robert Luther.
2043 Ortutay, provisional designation 1936 TH, is a dark asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 45 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered by Hungarian astronomer György Kulin at the Konkoly Observatory, Budapest, on 12 November 1936. It was named after Hungarian ethnographer Gyula Ortutay.
1266 Tone is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 80 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by astronomer Okuro Oikawa at the Tokyo Observatory in 1927, it was assigned the provisional designation 1927 BD. The asteroid was later named after the Tone River, one of Japan's largest rivers.
2120 Tyumenia is a dark background asteroid, approximately 45 kilometers in diameter, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 9 September 1967, by Soviet astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for the now Russian district of Tyumen Oblast in Western Siberia.
1585 Union, provisional designation 1947 RG, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 52 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 September 1947, by South African astronomer Ernest Johnson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa. The asteroid was named after the discovering observatory.
1466 Mündleria, provisional designation 1938 KA, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter.
1708 Pólit, provisional designation 1929 XA, is a very dark asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 November 1929, by Spanish astronomer of Catalan origin Josep Comas i Solà at the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, and was later named after Catalan astronomer Isidre Pòlit i Boixareu.