1671 Chaika
Main-belt asteroid
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1671 Chaika, provisional designation 1934 TD, is a background asteroid from the Astraea region in the central asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 3 October 1934, by Soviet astronomer Grigory Neujmin at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.[1] The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 3.8 hours.[11] It was named for Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.[2]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | G. Neujmin |
| Discovery site | Simeiz Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 October 1934 |
| Designations | |
| (1671) Chaika | |
Named after | Valentina Tereshkova[2] (Soviet cosmonaut) |
| 1934 TD · 1930 WE 1952 BX · 1955 XA 1963 SO · 1971 RC A907 GM | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (middle) background[4] · Astraea[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 87.90 yr (32,107 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.2516 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9223 AU |
| 2.5870 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2569 |
| 4.16 yr (1,520 d) | |
| 80.231° | |
| 0° 14m 12.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.9660° |
| 177.17° | |
| 250.27° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 7.478±0.728 km[6] 9.37±0.46 km[7] 10.222±0.048 km[8] 13.29±1.71 km[9] | |
| 3.7718±0.0002 h[10] | |
| 0.120[6] 0.145[9] 0.2463[8] 0.291[7] | |
| S (assumed)[11] | |
| 12.1[1][3][6][7][8][9][11] | |
Orbit and classification
According to a HCM-analysis by Nesvorný, Chaika is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population,[4] while for Milani and Knežević, it is a member of the larger Astraea family, named after 5 Astraea.[5] The Astraea family is not recognized by Nesvorný as a collisional asteroid family, who rather considers it an artifact in the model due to a resonant alignment.[12]
It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 1.9–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,520 days; semi-major axis of 2.59 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.26 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The asteroid was first observed at the Lowell Observatory in April 1907. The body's observation arc begins at the Tokyo Observatory (389) in November 1930, almost 4 years prior to its official discovery observation at Simeiz–Crimea.[1]
Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of Soviet cosmonaut Valentina "Chaika" Tereshkova (born 1937). Tereshkova received the call sign "Chaika" – the Russian word for seagull – as she was the first woman to fly in space.[2] The asteroid's name was proposed by the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy (ITA) in St Petersburg. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 June 1967 (M.P.C. 2740).[13]
Physical characteristics
Chaika is an assumed, stony S-type asteroid.[11]
Rotation period
In November 2005, a rotational lightcurve of Chaika was obtained from photometric observations by Italian astronomers Roberto Crippa, Federico Manzini and Josep Coloma. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.7718±0.0002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.18 magnitude (U=3).[10] John Menke in collaboration with Walter Cooney and David Higgins determined a concurring period of 3.774±0.003 hours with an amplitude of 0.20 magnitude (U=3).[14]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Chaika measures between 7.5 and 13.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.12 and 0.29.[6][7][8][9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 11.30 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.1.[11]
