2678 Aavasaksa

2678 Aavasaksa
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Y. Väisälä
Discovery site Turku Obs.
Discovery date 24 February 1938
Designations
MPC designation 2678 Aavasaksa
Named after
 Aavasaksa
(hill in Finnish Lapland)[2]
1938 DF1 · 1952 KM
1955 DH · 1977 SX1
1979 FP2 · A916 WA
main-belt · Flora [3]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 78.13 yr (28,538 days)
Aphelion 2.4555 AU
Perihelion 2.0647 AU
2.2601 AU
Eccentricity 0.0864
3.40 yr (1,241 days)
87.772°
0° 17m 24s / day
Inclination 3.4442°
54.035°
46.075°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 8.371±0.096 km[4]
8.19 km (calculated)[3]
24 h[5]
0.2764±0.0367[4]
0.24 (assumed)[3]
S [3]
12.6[1][3]
12.4[4]

    2678 Aavasaksa, provisional designation 1938 DF1, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland, on 24 February 1938.[6]

    The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,241 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the plane of the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was obtained at Bergedorf Observatory in 1916, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 22 years prior to its discovery.[6]

    In January 2009, a provisional and fragmentary photometric light-curve analysis performed at the U.S. Via Capote Observatory,California, gave it a somewhat longer than average rotation period of 24 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.4 in magnitude (U=1).[5] According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 8.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.28,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24, derived from the Flora family's largest member and namesake, 8 Flora, and calculates a diameter of 8.2 kilometers.[3]

    The minor planet is named after Aavasaksa, a sharp-edged hill in Finnish Lapland, just south of the Arctic Circle. The hill is located in the Tornio River Valley, after which the minor planet 1471 Tornio is named, and is often considered the southernmost point in Finland, where the natural phenomenon of the midnight sun is visible each June.[2] Naming citation was published on 26 May 1983 (M.P.C. 7947).[7]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2678 Aavasaksa (1938 DF1)" (2016-04-11 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
    2. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2678) Aavasaksa. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 219. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (2678) Aavasaksa". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 April 2016.
    4. 1 2 3 4 Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407Freely accessible. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
    5. 1 2 Brinsfield, James W. (July 2009). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Via Capote Observatory: 2009 1st Quarter". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 36 (3): 127–128. Bibcode:2009MPBu...36..127B. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
    6. 1 2 "2678 Aavasaksa (1938 DF1)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
    7. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2016.

    External links

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