1209 Pumma

1209 Pumma
Discovery
Discovered by	K. Reinmuth
Discovery site	Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date	22 April 1927
Designations
MPC designation	(1209) Pumma
Named after	Niece of discoverer's friend
Alternative designations	1927 HA · 1950 JQ; 1963 UU
Minor planet category	main-belt · (outer); Hygiea
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	90.20 yr (32,945 days)
Aphelion	3.5836 AU
Perihelion	2.7590 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1713 AU
Eccentricity	0.1300
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.65 yr (2,063 days)
Mean anomaly	302.93°
Mean motion	0° 10m 28.2s / day
Inclination	6.9333°
Longitude of ascending node	89.806°
Argument of perihelion	176.87°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	21.73±2.15 km; 26.889±0.253 km; 26.986±0.311 km; 40.33 km (calculated)
Synodic rotation period	8.5001±0.0001 h
Geometric albedo	0.057 (assumed); 0.1397±0.0360; 0.141±0.028; 0.215±0.055
Spectral type	C (assumed)
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.60 · 10.62±0.19 · 10.7

1209 Pumma (provisional designation 1927 HA) is a Hygiean asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 April 1927, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany.^[10] The asteroid was named after the niece of astronomer Albrecht Kahrstedt.^[2]

Orbit and classification

Pumma is a member of the Hygiea family (601),^[4] a very large family of carbonaceous outer-belt asteroids, named after the fourth-largest asteroid, 10 Hygiea.^[11] It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,063 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] No precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made. The body's observation arc begins at Uccle, 8 days after its official discovery observation at Heidelberg.^[10]

Physical characteristics

Lightcurve

In April 2012, a rotational lightcurve of Pumma was obtained from photometric observations by Italian and French amateur astronomers Silvano Casulli and René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 8.5001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28 magnitude (U=3).^[8]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Pumma measures between 21.73 and 26.99 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.139 and 0.215.^[5]^[6]^[7] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous C-type asteroids of 0.057 and consequently calculates a much larger diameter of 40.33 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 10.7.^[3]

Naming

This minor planet's name was proposed by German astronomer Albrecht Kahrstedt (1897–1971), a staff member at ARI and later director at Babelsberg Observatory (also see 1587 Kahrstedt). "Pumma" is the nickname of a niece of Kahrstedt.^[2]^[12]^[13] The official naming citation was published by Paul Herget in The Names of the Minor Planets in 1955 (H 112).^[2]