Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
Discovery date | 4 November 1969 |
Designations | |
(2867) Šteins | |
Pronunciation | /ˈsteɪns/ |
Named after | Kārlis Šteins [1] |
| |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch 23 March 2018 ( JD 2458200.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 66.47 yr (24,279 d) |
Aphelion | 2.7081 AU |
Perihelion | 2.0185 AU |
2.3633 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.1459 |
3.63 yr (1,327 d) | |
182.24 ° | |
0° 16m 16.68s / day | |
Inclination | 9.9354° |
55.366° | |
251.08° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 6.83 km × 5.70 km × 4.42 km [5] |
4.92±0.40
km
[6] 5.160±0.167 km [7] | |
6.049 h [8] [a] | |
0.300
[7] 0.34 [6] 0.40 [5] [9] [10] | |
E
[8]
[9]
[11] V–R = 0.510±0.030 [12] [13] | |
12.7
[1]
[2] 13.36 [8] [7] 13.36±0.07 [6] | |
2867 Šteins (provisional designation 1969 VC) is an irregular, diamond-shaped background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1969 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij on the Crimean peninsula. [1] In September 2008, ESA's spacecraft Rosetta flew by Šteins, making it one of few minor planets ever visited by a spacecraft. The bright E-type asteroid features 23 named craters and has a rotation period of 6.05 hours. [8] It was named for Soviet Latvian astronomer Kārlis Šteins. [1]
Šteins is a non- family asteroid from the main belt's background population. [3] [4] It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,327 days; semi-major axis of 2.36 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 10 ° with respect to the ecliptic. [2] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery, taken at the Palomar Observatory in November 1951, or 18 years prior to its official discovery observation. [1]
This minor planet was named in memory of Kārlis Šteins (1911–1983), a Latvian and Soviet astronomer. He was a long-time observatory director at the University of Latvia in Riga and designed astronomical instruments. Šteins is known for his work on cometary cosmogony and the study of Earth's rotation. [1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 September 1986 ( M.P.C. 11157). [14]
On 11 May 2012, IAU's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature announced a naming system for geographical features on Šteins. [15] Inspired by the asteroid's gem-like shape, its crater are given the English-language names of precious stones, with the largest being named Diamond crater (see below).
Except for the montes of Mercury and the lunar maria (and proposed for 2 Pallas and 7 Iris), the craters of Šteins are the only features in the Solar System whose names are not derived from proper nouns. [16] In addition, a distinct region on the asteroid has been named Chernykh Regio after the discoverer, Nikolai Chernykh. [17]
A study published in 2006 by astronomers at the European Southern Observatory showed that Šteins is an E-type asteroid with a diameter of approximately 4.6 kilometers. [9] After the Rosetta flyby, the ESA described Šteins as a "diamond in the sky", as it has a wide body that tapers into a point. The wide section is dominated by the large Diamond crater with a diameter of 2.1 kilometers, which surprised scientists, who were at first amazed the asteroid survived such an impact, [18] while later it turned out that the crater-to-body diameter ratio of 0.79 is in fact not abnormally large as it follows an already established trend. [19] Besides its irregular in shape, it does not have any moons. [20]
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope, Šteins measures 5.16 and 4.92 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.30 and 0.34, respectively. [6] [7] Its overall Bond albedo is 0.24 ± 0.01. [21] In 2012, the photographs of Šteins taken by Rosetta using stereophotoclinometry allowed scientists to determine that the asteroid's dimensions are 6.83 × 5.70 × 4.42 kilometers, which equates to a mean diameter in volume of 5.26 km. [5] (Asteroid 129167 Dianelambert was later named for the scientist using this 3D-method.) The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts an albedo of 0.34 and a diameter of 4.9 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.36. [8]
Studying the asteroid with Rosetta space probe onboard OSIRIS cameras shortly before its flyby showed via a lightcurve analysis that Šteins has a rotation period of 6.052±0.007 hours. [22] [20] The results of the rotational lightcurve agree with ground-based photometric observations of Šteins with a period of 6.049 hours and a brightness amplitude between 0.18 and 0.31 magnitude ( U=3/3). [8] [10] [12] [13] [23] [24] [a]
A lightcurve inversion also modeled a concurring sidereal period of 6.04681 hours and determined a spin axis at (250.0°, −89.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β). The modeling was done by compiling a set of 26 previously obtained visible lightcurves. [25]
On 5 September 2008, the Rosetta space probe flew by Šteins at a distance of 800 km and a relatively slow speed of 8.6 km/s. Despite the short duration of this encounter (approximately 7 minutes in total), a great amount of data was obtained by the 15 scientific instruments operating on board the Rosetta spacecraft. [26] This was the first of two planned asteroid flybys performed by the probe, the second being to the much larger 21 Lutetia in 2010. [27] The timing of the fly-by meant that the asteroid was illuminated by the sun from the perspective of the spacecraft, making the transmitted images clear. The European Space Operations Centre streamed a press conference on Šteins later that day. [28]
Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
Discovery date | 4 November 1969 |
Designations | |
(2867) Šteins | |
Pronunciation | /ˈsteɪns/ |
Named after | Kārlis Šteins [1] |
| |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch 23 March 2018 ( JD 2458200.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 66.47 yr (24,279 d) |
Aphelion | 2.7081 AU |
Perihelion | 2.0185 AU |
2.3633 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.1459 |
3.63 yr (1,327 d) | |
182.24 ° | |
0° 16m 16.68s / day | |
Inclination | 9.9354° |
55.366° | |
251.08° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 6.83 km × 5.70 km × 4.42 km [5] |
4.92±0.40
km
[6] 5.160±0.167 km [7] | |
6.049 h [8] [a] | |
0.300
[7] 0.34 [6] 0.40 [5] [9] [10] | |
E
[8]
[9]
[11] V–R = 0.510±0.030 [12] [13] | |
12.7
[1]
[2] 13.36 [8] [7] 13.36±0.07 [6] | |
2867 Šteins (provisional designation 1969 VC) is an irregular, diamond-shaped background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1969 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij on the Crimean peninsula. [1] In September 2008, ESA's spacecraft Rosetta flew by Šteins, making it one of few minor planets ever visited by a spacecraft. The bright E-type asteroid features 23 named craters and has a rotation period of 6.05 hours. [8] It was named for Soviet Latvian astronomer Kārlis Šteins. [1]
Šteins is a non- family asteroid from the main belt's background population. [3] [4] It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,327 days; semi-major axis of 2.36 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 10 ° with respect to the ecliptic. [2] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery, taken at the Palomar Observatory in November 1951, or 18 years prior to its official discovery observation. [1]
This minor planet was named in memory of Kārlis Šteins (1911–1983), a Latvian and Soviet astronomer. He was a long-time observatory director at the University of Latvia in Riga and designed astronomical instruments. Šteins is known for his work on cometary cosmogony and the study of Earth's rotation. [1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 September 1986 ( M.P.C. 11157). [14]
On 11 May 2012, IAU's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature announced a naming system for geographical features on Šteins. [15] Inspired by the asteroid's gem-like shape, its crater are given the English-language names of precious stones, with the largest being named Diamond crater (see below).
Except for the montes of Mercury and the lunar maria (and proposed for 2 Pallas and 7 Iris), the craters of Šteins are the only features in the Solar System whose names are not derived from proper nouns. [16] In addition, a distinct region on the asteroid has been named Chernykh Regio after the discoverer, Nikolai Chernykh. [17]
A study published in 2006 by astronomers at the European Southern Observatory showed that Šteins is an E-type asteroid with a diameter of approximately 4.6 kilometers. [9] After the Rosetta flyby, the ESA described Šteins as a "diamond in the sky", as it has a wide body that tapers into a point. The wide section is dominated by the large Diamond crater with a diameter of 2.1 kilometers, which surprised scientists, who were at first amazed the asteroid survived such an impact, [18] while later it turned out that the crater-to-body diameter ratio of 0.79 is in fact not abnormally large as it follows an already established trend. [19] Besides its irregular in shape, it does not have any moons. [20]
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope, Šteins measures 5.16 and 4.92 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.30 and 0.34, respectively. [6] [7] Its overall Bond albedo is 0.24 ± 0.01. [21] In 2012, the photographs of Šteins taken by Rosetta using stereophotoclinometry allowed scientists to determine that the asteroid's dimensions are 6.83 × 5.70 × 4.42 kilometers, which equates to a mean diameter in volume of 5.26 km. [5] (Asteroid 129167 Dianelambert was later named for the scientist using this 3D-method.) The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts an albedo of 0.34 and a diameter of 4.9 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.36. [8]
Studying the asteroid with Rosetta space probe onboard OSIRIS cameras shortly before its flyby showed via a lightcurve analysis that Šteins has a rotation period of 6.052±0.007 hours. [22] [20] The results of the rotational lightcurve agree with ground-based photometric observations of Šteins with a period of 6.049 hours and a brightness amplitude between 0.18 and 0.31 magnitude ( U=3/3). [8] [10] [12] [13] [23] [24] [a]
A lightcurve inversion also modeled a concurring sidereal period of 6.04681 hours and determined a spin axis at (250.0°, −89.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β). The modeling was done by compiling a set of 26 previously obtained visible lightcurves. [25]
On 5 September 2008, the Rosetta space probe flew by Šteins at a distance of 800 km and a relatively slow speed of 8.6 km/s. Despite the short duration of this encounter (approximately 7 minutes in total), a great amount of data was obtained by the 15 scientific instruments operating on board the Rosetta spacecraft. [26] This was the first of two planned asteroid flybys performed by the probe, the second being to the much larger 21 Lutetia in 2010. [27] The timing of the fly-by meant that the asteroid was illuminated by the sun from the perspective of the spacecraft, making the transmitted images clear. The European Space Operations Centre streamed a press conference on Šteins later that day. [28]