1941 Wild
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 6 October 1931 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 1941 Wild |
|
Named after
|
Paul Wild (astronomer)[2] |
| 1931 TN1 · 1971 SO1 A915 UA |
|
| main-belt (outer) · Hilda [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 99.58 yr (36,373 days) |
| Aphelion | 5.0930 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.8259 AU |
| 3.9595 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2862 |
| 7.88 yr (2,878 days) | |
| 188.04° | |
| Inclination | 3.9539° |
| 60.495° | |
| 302.49° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 24.30 km (calculated)[3] |
| 9.05 h[4] 45.6488±0.1783 h[5] |
|
| 0.15±0.03[6] 0.057 (assumed)[3] |
|
| C [3] | |
| 11.8[1] | |
1941 Wild, provisional designation 1931 TN1, is an eccentric Hilidan asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, about 24 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory, southern Germany, on 6 October 1931.[7]
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8–5.1 AU once every 7 years and 11 months (2,878 days). Its orbit is tilted by 4 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic and shows a relatively high eccentricity of 0.29.[1] In 2015, the asteroid's rotation period was revised to almost 46 hours, based on light-curve observations from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey in 2011, superseding a previous analysis from the 1990s, that rendered a much shorter period of 9.05 hours.[4][5] According to the survey on the Hilda Population carried out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the body's surface has an albedo of 0.15,[6] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a much lower value of 0.06, which is a typical albedo for dark C-type bodies of carbonaceous surface composition.[3]
Located in the outermost part of the main-belt, the asteroid is a member of the Hilda family, a large group of asteroids that are thought to have originated from the Kuiper belt. They orbit in a 3:2 orbital resonance with the gas giant Jupiter, meaning that for every 2 orbits Jupiter completes around the Sun, a Hildian asteroid will complete 3 orbits.[1] As the Hildas neither cross the path of any of the planets nor can they be pulled out of orbit by Jupiter's gravitational field due to their resonance, it is likely that the asteroid will remain in a stable orbit for thousands of years.
The minor planet was named in honor of Swiss astronomer Paul Wild (1925–2014), who worked at the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern.[2] Wild's research focused on the discovery and observation of supernovae in other galaxies. He was also a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets, most notably of comet Wild 2, which he discovered at the university's nearby Zimmerwald Observatory, and which was later visited by NASA's Stardust Mission.[2]
References
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External links
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 1941 Wild at the JPL Small-Body Database
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