1106 Cydonia
Main-belt asteroid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1106 Cydonia (/saɪˈdoʊniə/), provisional designation 1929 CW, is a Eunomian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 5 February 1929, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Germany.[12] The asteroid was named for the fruit-bearing tree Cydonia (quince).[3] The S-type asteroid has a relatively short rotation period of 2.7 hours.[4]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 5 February 1929 |
| Designations | |
| (1106) Cydonia | |
| Pronunciation | /saɪˈdoʊniə/[2] |
Named after | Cydonia (quince)[3] (flowering plant) |
| 1929 CW | |
| main-belt · (middle) Eunomia[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 88.41 yr (32,292 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9246 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2673 AU |
| 2.5959 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1266 |
| 4.18 yr (1,528 days) | |
| 71.500° | |
| 0° 14m 8.16s / day | |
| Inclination | 13.065° |
| 328.26° | |
| 230.23° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 12.140±0.093 km[6] 12.818±0.182 km[7] 12.95±0.94 km[8] 13.26 km (calculated)[4] | |
| 2.6700±0.0181 h[9] 2.679±0.001 h[10] | |
| 0.1719±0.0182[7] 0.21 (assumed)[4] 0.241±0.018[8] | |
| SMASS = S[1][4] | |
| 11.60[8] · 11.7[4] · 11.8[1] · 12.0[7] · 12.06±0.28[11] | |
Orbit and classification
Cydonia is a member of the Eunomia family (502),[4][5] a prominent family of stony asteroids and the largest one in the intermediate main belt with more than 5,000 members.[13] It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.3–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,528 days; semi-major axis 2.60 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 13° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The body's observation arc begins with its first and official discovery observation at Heidelberg in February 1929.[12]
Physical characteristics
In the SMASS classification, Cydonia is a stony S-type asteroid,[1][4] in-line with the Eunomia family's overall spectral type.[13]: 23
Rotation period
In December 2015, a rotational lightcurve of Cydonia was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Etscorn Observatory (719) in New Mexico, United States. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 2.679 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28 magnitude (U=3).[10] In April 2017, Spanish astronomers at Puçol Observatory (J42) and other stations of the APTOG-network measured a similar period of 2.6700 hours and an amplitude of 0.10 magnitude (U=2+).[9]
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Cydonia measures between 12.140 and 12.95 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.1719 and 0.241.[6][7][8]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 – derived from 15 Eunomia, the family's parent body and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 13.26 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.7.[4]
Naming
This minor planet was named after the genus Cydonia in the family Rosaceae, with the fruit-bearing quince tree as its only member. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 104).[3]
Reinmuth's flowers
Due to his many discoveries, Karl Reinmuth submitted a large list of 66 newly named asteroids in the early 1930s. The list covered his discoveries with numbers between (1009) and (1200). This list also contained a sequence of 28 asteroids, starting with 1054 Forsytia, that were all named after plants, in particular flowering plants (also see list of minor planets named after animals and plants).[14]
