2732 Witt , provisional designation 1926 FG , is a bright asteroid and namesake of the Witt family located in the central regions of the asteroid belt , approximately 11 kilometers (7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 19 March 1926, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany. The unusual A-type asteroid was named after astronomer Carl Gustav Witt .[ 1] [ 2]
Orbit and classification
Witt the parent body and namesake of the Witt family (535 ),[ 3] a large family of stony asteroids with more than 1,600 known members.[ 5]
It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.7–2.8 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,675 days; semi-major axis of 2.76 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.02 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic .[ 2] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg in April 1926, two week after its official discovery observation.[ 1]
Physical characteristics
In the SMASS classification , Witt is an uncommon A-type asteroid ,[ 2] while the overall spectral type for members of the Witt family is that of an S-type .[ 5] : 23
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer , Witt measures 11.001 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a high albedo of 0.305.[ 4]
Rotation period
As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve of Witt has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period , pole and shape remain unknown.[ 2]
Naming
This minor planet was named by Brian G. Marsden after Carl Gustav Witt (1866–1946), a German astronomer at the Berlin Observatory and a discoverer of minor planets himself, best known for the discovery of the near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros .[ 1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 September 1983 (M.P.C. 8153 ).[ 6]
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