8121 Altdorfer

8121 Altdorfer
Discovery [1]
Discovered by C. J. van Houten
I. van Houten-G.
Tom Gehrels
Discovery site Palomar Obs.
Discovery date 24 September 1960
Designations
MPC designation 8121 Altdorfer
Named after
 Albrecht Altdorfer
(Renaissance painter)[2]
2572 P-L · 1972 GR1
1990 SU29
main-belt · Flora [3]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 54.60 yr (19,942 days)
Aphelion 2.4635 AU
Perihelion 2.0118 AU
2.2376 AU
Eccentricity 0.1009
3.35 yr (1,223 days)
83.153°
0° 17m 39.84s / day
Inclination 2.6839°
9.5248°
113.46°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 2.474±0.491 km[4]
2.06 km (calculated)[3]
4.0221±0.0018 h[5]
0.3470±0.1286[4]
0.24 (assumed)[3]
S [3][6]
15.0[1]
15.59[3]
14.8[4]
15.143±0.006 (R)[5]
15.56±0.31 [6]

    8121 Altdorfer, provisional designation 2572 P-L, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at the U.S. Palomar Observatory, California.[7]

    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 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,223 days). Its orbit is tilted by 3° to the plane of the ecliptic and shows an eccentricity of 0.10.[1]

    According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 2.5 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a high albedo of 0.35,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from the family's principal body and namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora – and calculates a diameter of 2.1 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 15.59.[3]

    A rotational light-curve was obtained through photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory in August 2011. The light-curve shows a period of 4.0221±0.0018 hours with a brightness variation of 0.34 in magnitude (U=2).[5]

    The survey designation "P-L" stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey, a collaboration between the Palomar and Leiden Observatory in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of 4,619 minor planets.[8]

    The minor planet is named in honour of German Renaissance painter Albrecht Altdorfer (1480–1538). As a member of the "Donauschool" he was the first to paint landscapes without figures. Altdorfer was also an architect of the city of Regensburg, Germany, after which the minor planet 927 Ratisbona is named, and was also a significant printmaker, with numerous (copper) engravings and woodcuts.[2]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 8121 Altdorfer (2572 P-L)" (2015-05-01 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved April 2016.
    2. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (8121) Altdorfer. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 634. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved April 2016.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (8121) Altdorfer". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 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:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved April 2016.
    5. 1 2 3 Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved April 2016.
    6. 1 2 Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved April 2016.
    7. ↑ "8121 Altdorfer (2572 P-L)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved April 2016.
    8. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers". Minor Planet Center. 23 March 2016. Retrieved April 2016.

    External links

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