1941 Wild
Discovery[1]
Discovered byK. Reinmuth
Discovery siteHeidelberg Obs.
Discovery date6 October 1931
Designations
(1941) Wild
Named after
Paul Wild (Swiss astronomer)[2]
1931 TN1 · 1971 SO1
A915 UA
main-belt · Hilda[3]
Schubart
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc101.55 yr (37,090 days)
Aphelion5.0926 AU
Perihelion2.8115 AU
3.9520 AU
Eccentricity0.2886
7.86 yr (2,870 days)
288.25°
0° 7m 31.8s / day
Inclination3.9587°
60.454°
302.70°
Jupiter MOID0.4044 AU
TJupiter2.9810
Physical characteristics
Dimensions17.120±0.122 km[4]
24.30 km (calculated)[5]
9.05 h[6]
45.6488±0.1783 h[7]
0.057 (assumed)[5]
0.152±0.032[4]
M[4] · C[5]
11.8[1][5] · 11.83±0.38[8] · 12.139±0.002 (S)[7]

1941 Wild, provisional designation 1931 TN1, is an eccentric Hildian asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter.

It was discovered on 6 October 1931, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.[3] The asteroid was named for Swiss astronomer Paul Wild.

Orbit and classification

Wild is a member of the Hilda family, a large group of asteroids that are thought to have originated from the Kuiper belt. Located in the outermost part of the main-belt, they orbit in a 3:2 orbital resonance with the gas giant Jupiter, meaning that for every 2 orbits Jupiter completes around the Sun, a Hildian asteroid will complete 3 orbits.[1] As the Hildas neither cross the path of any of the planets nor can they be pulled out of orbit by Jupiter's gravitational field due to their resonance, it is likely that the asteroid will remain in a stable orbit for thousands of years.

The asteroid orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–5.1 AU once every 7 years and 10 months (2,870 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.29 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] Wild' observation arc begins with its discovery observation, as A915 UA, a previous identification made at Heidelberg in 1918, remained unused.[3]

Physical characteristics

According to the survey on the Hilda Population carried out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Wild measures 17.2 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.152,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids 0.057, and calculates a diameter of 24.3 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 11.8.[5] WISE also classifies the carbonaceous asteroid as a metallic M-type.[4]

A rotational lightcurve of Wild was obtained by Richard P. Binzel in October 1987. It gave a rotation period of 9.05 hours with a brightness variation of 0.36 magnitude (U=2).[6] A longer period of 45.6 hours was derived from photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory in September 2011 (U=1)[7]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Swiss astronomer Paul Wild (1925–2014), who worked at the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern.[2] Wild's research focused on the discovery and observation of supernovae in other galaxies. He was also a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets, most notably of comet Wild 2, which he discovered at the university's nearby Zimmerwald Observatory, and which was later visited by NASA's Stardust Mission.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3938).[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1941 Wild (1931 TN1)" (2017-05-04 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1941) Wild". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 156. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1942. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c "1941 Wild (1931 TN1)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J.; Masiero, J.; Spahr, T.; McMillan, R. S.; et al. (January 2012). "WISE/NEOWISE Observations of the Hilda Population: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 744 (2): 15. arXiv:1110.0283. Bibcode:2012ApJ...744..197G. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/744/2/197. S2CID 44000310. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e "LCDB Data for (1941) Wild". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  6. ^ a b Binzel, Richard P.; Sauter, Linda M. (February 1992). "Trojan, Hilda, and Cybele asteroids - New lightcurve observations and analysis". Icarus. 95 (2): 222–238. Bibcode:1992Icar...95..222B. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(92)90039-A. ISSN 0019-1035. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  7. ^ 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. S2CID 8342929. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  8. ^ Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. S2CID 53493339. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  9. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2009). "Appendix – Publication Dates of the MPCs". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – Addendum to Fifth Edition (2006–2008). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 221. Bibcode:2009dmpn.book.....S. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-01965-4. ISBN 978-3-642-01964-7.

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