1961 Dufour

1961 Dufour
Discovery [1]
Discovered by P. Wild
Discovery site Zimmerwald Obs.
Discovery date 19 November 1973
Designations
MPC designation 1961 Dufour
Named after
 Henri Dufour
(Swiss General)[2]
1973 WA · 1927 UM
1952 BQ1 · 1962 YG
1969 AH · 1973 SY3
main-belt · (outer) [3]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 53.46 yr (19,526 days)
Aphelion 3.5886 AU
Perihelion 2.7985 AU
3.1935 AU
Eccentricity 0.1237
5.71 yr (2,085 days)
117.61°
0° 10m 21.72s / day
Inclination 6.6495°
29.582°
57.271°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 50.25 km (derived)[3]
50.31±1.6 km (IRAS:20)[1]
51.15±0.98 km[4]
15.7583±0.0309 h[5]
15.79±0.01 h[6]
0.0335 (derived)[3]
0.039±0.002[4]
0.0402±0.003 (IRAS:20)[1]
C [3]
10.60[4]
10.7[1]
10.761±0.002 (R)[5]
10.8[3]

    1961 Dufour, provisional designation 1973 WA, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 50 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 November 1973, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland.[7]

    The dark C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,085 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first used observation was made at the U.S. McDonald Observatory in 1952, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 21 years prior to its discovery.[7]

    French amateur astronomer Pierre Antonini obtained a light-curve for this asteroid from photometric observations taken during April 2010. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 15.79±0.01 hours with an amplitude of 0.31 in magnitude (U=3-).[6] In August 2013, photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory, California, gave a similar period of 15.7583±0.0309 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 (U=2).[5]

    According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and the Japanese Akari satellite, the asteroid measures 50.3 and 51.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.040 and 0.039, respectively.[1][4] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.034 and a diameter of 50.3 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 10.8.[3]

    The minor planet is named after Swiss General Henri Dufour (1787–1875), who lead the Swiss forces to victory against the renegade catholic cantons in the Sonderbund War of November 1847, which claimed fewer than a hundred lives. He was also a co-founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross, founder of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography and architect of the first complete geodetic survey of Switzerland.[2] Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4157).[8] The "Dufourspitze", the Alp's second-highest mountain after the Mont Blanc, was also named in his honour.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1961 Dufour (1973 WA)" (2016-06-16 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    2. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1961) Dufour. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 158. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (1961) Dufour". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    4. 1 2 3 4 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" (PDF). Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. Retrieved 26 August 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:1504.04041Freely accessible. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    6. 1 2 Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (1961) Dufour". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    7. 1 2 "1961 Dufour (1973 WA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    8. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 August 2016.

    External links

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