| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Purple Mountain Obs. |
| Discovery site | Purple Mountain Obs. |
| Discovery date | 30 January 1966 |
| Designations | |
| (3844) Lujiaxi | |
Named after | Lu Jiaxi (Chinese chemist) [2] |
| 1966 BZ ·1933 XH 1964 VC1 ·1975 BW 1977 RW3 ·1977 SP 1980 FY10 ·1982 VJ9 1985 HD1 ·1985 JV 1985 KK ·1986 PU 1986 QA ·1987 YQ | |
| main-belt ·(middle) Henan [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 83.47 yr (30,488 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0148 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.4484 AU |
| 2.7316 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1037 |
| 4.51 yr (1,649 days) | |
| 275.75° | |
| 0° 13m 5.88s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.8300° |
| 137.98° | |
| 230.28° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 13.74±3.48 km [4] 15.538±0.718 km [5] 25.44 km (calculated) [6] |
| 10.415 h [7] 13.33±0.01 h [8] | |
| 0.057 (assumed) [6] 0.168±0.032 [5] 0.18±0.07 [4] | |
| SMASS = L [1] L (Bus–DeMeo) [8] : 5 C (assumed) [6] | |
| 11.60 [4] ·11.7 [6] ·11.8 [1] ·11.94±0.22 [9] | |
3844 Lujiaxi, provisional designation 1966 BZ, is a Henan asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 January 1966, by astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanking, China. [10] The asteroid was named after Chinese chemist Lu Jiaxi. [2]
Lujiaxi is a member of the Henan family ( 532 ), [3] a large asteroid family in the intermediate main-belt, named after 2085 Henan. [11] : 23 It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.4–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 6 months (1,649 days; semi-major axis of 2.73 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. [1]
The body's observation arc begins with its first identification as 1933 XH at Heidelberg Observatory in December 1933, more than 32 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nanking. [10]
In the Bus–DeMeo and SMASS classification, Lujiaxi is an uncommon L-type asteroid, [1] [8] : 5 which is also the overall spectral type for members of the Henan family. [11] : 23
In August 2013, a rotational lightcurve of Lujiaxi was obtained from photometric observations by Italian amateur astronomer Silvano Casulli. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 10.415 hours (given as 0.43397 days) with a brightness amplitude of 0.43 magnitude ( U=n.a. ). [7]
In December 2014, a study by an international collaboration of astronomers found a period of 13.33 hours with an amplitude of 0.34 magnitude ( U=2+ ). [8] The study selected Lujiaxi because it is a suspected "Barbarian" asteroid with a potentially slow rotation period. This group is named after 234 Barbara, which polarimetric properties and observed occultations suggest that such bodies have an unusual shape and topographic features with large concave areas. [8]
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Lujiaxi measures 13.74 and 15.538 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.18 and 0.168, respectively. [4] [5]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and consequently calculates a much larger diameter of 25.44 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.7. [6]
This minor planet was named after Lu Jiaxi (1915–2001), a Chinese physical chemist, who headed the Chinese Academy of Sciences and made important contributions to the structural chemistry of cluster compounds. [2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 11 February 1998 ( M.P.C. 31188). [12]
4349 Tibúrcio, provisional designation 1989 LX, is a dark asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 June 1989, by German astronomer Werner Landgraf at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.
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.
1024 Hale, provisional designation A923 YO13, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 2 December 1923, by Belgian–American astronomer George Van Biesbroeck at the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, United States. It was named for American astronomer George Ellery Hale. The dark C-type asteroid may have a rotation period of 16 hours.
1151 Ithaka, provisional designation 1929 RK, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 14 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in 1929, and later named for the Greek island of Ithaca.
11277 Ballard, provisional designation 1988 TW2, is a Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.3 kilometers (3.9 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 8 October 1988, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of at least 10 hours. It was named for American marine scientist Robert Ballard.
2637 Bobrovnikoff, provisional designation A919 SB, is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 September 1919, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany. The presumed spherical S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 4.79 hours. It is named after astronomer Nicholas Bobrovnikoff, who was the director of the Perkins Observatory in Ohio, United States.
3960 Chaliubieju, provisional designation 1955 BG, is a stony asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 January 1955, by astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing, China. The asteroid was named after Cha Liubieju, a friend of one of the discoverers.
3841 Dicicco, provisional designation 1983 VG7, is a stony Florian asteroid and synchronous binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1983, by American astronomer Brian Skiff at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States. It was named after American astronomer Dennis di Cicco. Its minor-planet moon, provisionally designated S/2014 (3841) 1, was discovered in 2014.
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.
2571 Geisei, provisional designation 1981 UC, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Japanese astronomer Tsutomu Seki at Geisei Observatory on 23 October 1981, and named for the Japanese village of Geisei.
2085 Henan, provisional designation 1965 YA, is a potentially slow rotating asteroid and the parent body of the Henan family in the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 December 1965, by astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanking, China. The asteroid was named for the Henan Province in China.
1409 Isko, provisional designation 1937 AK, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 January 1937, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after Ise Koch, wife of astronomer Fritz Kubach.
1264 Letaba, provisional designation 1933 HG, is a carbonaceous asteroid and possible tumbler from the background population of the outer asteroid belt, approximately 70 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 April 1933, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The asteroid was named for the Letaba River in eastern South Africa.
1696 Nurmela, provisional designation 1939 FF, is a Baptistina asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 18 March 1939, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland, and named after Finnish academician Tauno Nurmela. The possibly elongated asteroid has a rotation period of 3.15 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.
4789 Sprattia, provisional designation 1987 UU2, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 20 October 1987, by Canadian astronomer David Balam at the Climenhaga Observatory (657) in Victoria, Canada. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 3.1 hours and was named after Canadian amateur astronomer Christopher E. Spratt.
2391 Tomita, provisional designation 1957 AA, is a Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 9 January 1957, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. It was named after Japanese astronomer Kōichirō Tomita.
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.
3823 Yorii, provisional designation 1988 EC1, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter.
1513 Mátra, provisional designation 1940 EB, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 March 1940, by Hungarian astronomer György Kulin at Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary. It was later named after the Mátra mountain range.
