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 | |
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]
1743 Schmidt, provisional designation 4109 P-L, is a dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey on 24 September 1960, by astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California. The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 17.5 hours. It was named for the optician Bernhard Schmidt.
1039 Sonneberga, provisional designation 1924 TL, is a dark background asteroid, approximately 34 kilometers in diameter, located in the central region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 24 November 1924, by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named for the German city of Sonneberg, where the Sonneberg Observatory is located.
1179 Mally, provisional designation 1931 FD, is an asteroid and long-lost minor planet from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Max Wolf in 1931, the asteroid was lost until its rediscovery in 1986. The discoverer named it after his daughter-in-law, Mally Wolf.
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.
1049 Gotho, provisional designation 1925 RB, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 53 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 14 September 1925, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. Although the name of the asteroid is a masculine German name, it is not known to refer to a particular individual.
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.
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.
1815 Beethoven, provisional designation 1932 CE1, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 27 January 1932, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory. The uncommon F-type asteroid seems to have a long rotation period of 54 hours (tentative). It was named after Ludwig van Beethoven.
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.
2140 Kemerovo, provisional designation 1970 PE, is a dark asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter.
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.
3066 McFadden, provisional designation 1984 EO, is a stony background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 1 March 1984, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station near Tucson, Arizona. It was named for American planetary scientist Lucy-Ann McFadden. The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 13.8 hours.
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.
2111 Tselina is a stony Eos asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 13 June 1969, by Soviet astronomer Tamara Smirnova at Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 6.6 hours and measures approximately 23 kilometers in diameter. It was later named after the Soviet Virgin Lands Campaign.
1323 Tugela, provisional designation 1934 LD, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 May 1934, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The asteroid was named for the Tugela River in western South Africa.
1186 Turnera, provisional designation 1929 PL, is a stony Eoan asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 1 August 1929, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The asteroid was later named after British astronomer Herbert Hall Turner.
1461 Jean-Jacques, provisional designation 1937 YL, is a metallic asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 34 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 December 1937, by French astronomer Marguerite Laugier at Nice Observatory in southern France, who named it after her son Jean-Jacques Laugier.