1179 Mally

1179 Mally
Discovery[1]
Discovered byM. F. Wolf
Discovery siteHeidelberg Obs.
Discovery date19 March 1931
Designations
(1179) Mally
Named after
Mally Wolf
(discoverer's daughter-in-law)[2]
1931 FD
main-belt · (middle)[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc86.30 yr (31,520 days)
Aphelion3.0682 AU
Perihelion2.1698 AU
2.6190 AU
Eccentricity0.1715
4.24 yr (1,548 days)
104.44°
0° 13m 57s / day
Inclination8.7067°
6.8116°
234.15°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions10.65 km (calculated)[3]
11.20±0.83 km[4]
13.159±0.183 km[5]
13.379±0.077 km[6]
14.41±0.47 km[7]
16.60±5.64 km[8]
46.6917±0.1516 h[9]
0.059±0.020[7]
0.0683±0.0080[6]
0.07±0.09[8]
0.071±0.017[5]
0.097±0.015[4]
0.10 (assumed)[3]
S/C[3]
12.530±0.002 (R)[9] · 12.70[8] · 12.8[1] · 12.9[4][6][7] · 12.98[3]

1179 Mally, provisional designation 1931 FD, is an asteroid and long-lost minor planet from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Max Wolf in 1931, the asteroid was lost until its rediscovery in 1986. The discoverer named it after his daughter-in-law, Mally Wolf.

Discovery and rediscovery

Mally was discovered on 19 March 1931, by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany.[10]

Soon after its initial discovery, it became one of few well known lost minor planets for over 55 years. In 1986, Mally was rediscovered by astronomers Lutz Schmadel, Richard Martin West and Hans-Emil Schuster, who remeasured the original discovery plates and computed alternative search ephemerides. This allowed them to find the body very near to its predicted position. In addition, historic photographic plates from the Palomar Sky Survey (1956–1958), the UK Schmidt Telescope (Australia), and the ESO Schmidt Telescope (Chile) confirmed the rediscovery.[11][12][13]

Orbit and classification

Mally orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.2–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,548 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1931.[10]

Physical characteristics

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, Mally measures between 11.20 and 16.60 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.059 and 0.097.[4][5][6][7][8]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10 – a compromise value between the brighter stony (0.20) and darker carbonaceous asteroids (0.057) used for bodies with a semi-major axis between 2.6 and 2.7 AU – and calculates a diameter of 10.7 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.98.[3]

Rotation period

In September 2013, a rotational lightcurve of Mally was obtained from photometric observations taken at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. The fragmentary lightcurve gave a longer than average rotation period of 46.6 hours with a brightness variation of 0.08 magnitude.[9] However, the obtained result is poorly rated by CALL (U=1).[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named after Mally Wolf, wife of Franz Wolf and the discoverer's daughter-in-law. The official naming citation was published by Paul Herget in The Names of the Minor Planets in 1955 (H 110).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1179 Mally (1931 FD)" (2017-07-05 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1179) Mally". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1179) Mally. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 99. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1180. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "LCDB Data for (1179) Mally". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Usui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
  5. ^ a b c Masiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d 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.
  7. ^ a b c d Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Nugent, C.; et al. (November 2012). "Preliminary Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-cryogenic Observations of Main Belt Asteroids". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 759 (1): 5. arXiv:1209.5794. Bibcode:2012ApJ...759L...8M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/759/1/L8. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; et al. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 13. arXiv:1509.02522. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814..117N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/117. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  9. ^ a b c 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 26 October 2016.
  10. ^ a b "1179 Mally (1931 FD)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  11. ^ Brian G. Marsden (5 December 1986). "International Astronomical Union Circular 4278". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  12. ^ "Long Lost Planet Found Again" (Press release). Garching, Germany: European Southern Observatory. 4 December 1986. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  13. ^ Schmadel, L. D.; West, R. M. (1988). "Recovery of the long lost minor planet (1179) Mally". Astronomische Nachrichten. 309 (3): 223–225. Bibcode:1988AN....309..223S. doi:10.1002/asna.2113090318. ISSN 0004-6337.