The dark C-type asteroid is a member of the Themis family, a dynamical family of outer-belt asteroids with nearly coplanar ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,029 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
Physical characteristics
It has a rotation period of 5.4 hours and an albedo of 0.10 and 0.11, as determined by the space-based Akari and WISE missions, respectively,[6][4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a lower albedo of 0.08.[3]
Naming
This minor planet was named after the joint Soviet-American space flight, the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, carried on in 1975. The reversal of the names, "Soyuz–Apollo" rather than "Apollo–Soyuz", was not political, but to prevent confusion with the asteroid 1862 Apollo.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 March 1981 (M.P.C. 5850).[12]
^ abcdUsui, 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". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)