1252 Celestia

1252 Celestia

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	F. L. Whipple
Discovery site	Oak Ridge Obs.
Discovery date	19 February 1933
Designations
MPC designation	(1252) Celestia
Named after	Celestia Whipple[2] (discoverer's mother)
Alternative designations	1933 DG · 1934 PA1
Minor planet category	main-belt[1][3] · (middle) Pallas[4] · background[5]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	85.57 yr (31,254 d)
Aphelion	3.2535 AU
Perihelion	2.1350 AU
Semi-major axis	2.6943 AU
Eccentricity	0.2076
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.42 yr (1,615 d)
Mean anomaly	137.14°
Mean motion	0° 13^m 22.44^s / day
Inclination	33.839°
Longitude of ascending node	140.91°
Argument of perihelion	63.589°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	17.39±1.6 km[6] 19.037±0.304 km[7][8] 20.36±0.69 km[9] 21.542±0.155 km[10] 21.56±0.95 km[11]
Synodic rotation period	10.636 h[12]
Geometric albedo	0.167[11] 0.1714[10] 0.193[9] 0.215[7][8] 0.2573[6]
Spectral type	Tholen = S[4] SMASS = S[4] B–V = 0.890[4] U–B = 0.425[4]
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.89[1][3][6][7][9][10][11]

1252 Celestia, provisional designation 1933 DG, is a stony asteroid located in the central asteroid belt. It was discovered on 19 February 1933, by astronomer Fred Whipple at the Oak Ridge Observatory operated by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts, United States.[1] The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 10.6 hours and measures approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter.[13] It was named after the discoverer's mother, Celestia MacFarland Whipple.[2]

Orbit and classification

According to a synthetic HCM-analysis by Nesvorný, Celestia is a member of the Pallas family (801),[4] a small asteroid family of less than 200 known members with inclined orbits. The family is named after 2 Pallas.[14] However, in a HCM-analysis by Milani and Knežević, Celestia belongs to the background population.[5]

The asteroid orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.1–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,615 days; semi-major axis of 2.69 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 34° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins at the Yerkes Observatory in April 1933, or two months after its official discovery observation at Oak Ridge.[1]

Naming

This minor planet was named after the mother of the discoverer, Celestia MacFarland Whipple. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 115).[2]

Physical characteristics

In the Tholen and SMASS classification, Celestia is a common stony S-type asteroid, while in SMASS-like taxonomy of the Small Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey (S3OS2), it is a Sl-subtype that transitions from the S-type to the L-type asteroids.[4] Celestia's stony spectral type does not agree with those determined for the members of the Pallas family, which are typically "bright" carbonaceous B-type asteroids.[14]: 23 

Rotation period

In February and March 1195, a rotational lightcurve of Celestia was obtained from photometric observations at the Paul Feder Observatory by Walter Worman of Moorhead State University. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 10.636 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.26 magnitude (U=3).[12] An alternative period determination by René Roy of 12 hours was based on a fragmentary lightcurve and received a poor rating (U=1).[15]

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Celestia measures between 17.39 and 21.56 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.167 and 0.2573.[6][7][8][9][10][11] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.2573 and a diameter of 17.39 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.89.[13]

References

1. "1252 Celestia (1933 DG)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
2. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1252) Celestia". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 104. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1253. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1252 Celestia (1933 DG)" (2018-10-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
4. "Asteroid 1252 Celestia". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
5. "Asteroid (1252) Celestia – Proper elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
6. Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System – IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0: IRAS–A–FPA–3–RDR–IMPS–V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
7. Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; Kramer, E. A.; Masiero, J. R.; et al. (June 2016). "NEOWISE Diameters and Albedos V1.0". NASA Planetary Data System: EAR–A–COMPIL–5–NEOWISEDIAM–V1.0. Bibcode:2016PDSS..247.....M. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
8. 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. S2CID 119293330.
9. 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)
10. 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. S2CID 35447010. (catalog)
11. 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. S2CID 46350317.
12. Worman, W. E. (December 1995). "CCD Photometry of 1252 Celestia". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 22: 39. Bibcode:1995MPBu...22...39W.
13. "LCDB Data for (1252) Celestia". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 14 December 2018.
14. Nesvorný, D.; Broz, M.; Carruba, V. (December 2014). "Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families". Asteroids IV. pp. 297–321. arXiv:1502.01628. Bibcode:2015aste.book..297N. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016. ISBN 9780816532131. S2CID 119280014.
15. Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (1252) Celestia". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 14 December 2018.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 1252 Celestia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 1252 Celestia at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters