1474 Beira

1474 Beira

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	C. Jackson
Discovery site	Johannesburg Obs.
Discovery date	20 August 1935
Designations
MPC designation	(1474) Beira
Named after	Beira[2] (city in Mozambique)
Alternative designations	1935 QY · 1950 DQ
Minor planet category	Mars-crosser[1][3][4]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	81.06 yr (29,606 d)
Aphelion	4.0740 AU
Perihelion	1.3920 AU
Semi-major axis	2.7330 AU
Eccentricity	0.4907
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.52 yr (1,650 days)
Mean anomaly	19.609°
Mean motion	0° 13^m 5.16^s / day
Inclination	26.683°
Longitude of ascending node	323.50°
Argument of perihelion	84.070°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	8.73 km (calculated)[4] 14.9±1.5 km[5] 15±2 km[6] 15.46±1.55 km[7]
Synodic rotation period	4.184±0.001 h[8][9][a] 4.184±0.002 h[10]
Geometric albedo	0.06±0.01[6] 0.064±0.013[7] 0.07±0.01[5] 0.20 (assumed)[4]
Spectral type	Tholen = FX[1] SMASS = B[1][4] B–V = 0.620[1] U–B = 0.245[1]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.66[1][4][5][6][7]

1474 Beira, provisional designation 1935 QY, is a bright carbonaceous asteroid and large Mars-crosser on an eccentric orbit from the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 August 1935, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg.^[3] The asteroid was named after the port city of Beira in Mozambique.^[2]

Orbit and classification

Beira is a Mars-crossing asteroid, a dynamically unstable group between the main belt and the near-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.4–4.1 AU once every 4 years and 6 months (1,650 days). Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.49 and an inclination of 27° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg in 1935.^[3]

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Beira is a bright carbonaceous B-type asteroid, while in the Tholen classification its spectral type is ambiguous, closest to an F-type and somewhat similar to that of an X-type asteroid.^[1]

Rotation period

Three rotational lightcurves of Beira were obtained from photometric observations. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 4.184 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.15 and 0.24 magnitude (U=3/3/3).^{[8][9][10][a]}

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Beira measures between 14.9 and 15.46 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo between 0.06 and 0.07.^[5][6][7] Conversely, the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and consequently calculates a smaller diameter of 8.73 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 12.66.^[4]

With a diameter close to 15 kilometers, Beira is larger than most sizeable Mars-crossing asteroids such as 1065 Amundsenia (9.75 km), 1139 Atami (9.35 km), 1011 Laodamia (7.39 km), 1727 Mette (est 9 km), 1131 Porzia (7.13 km), 1235 Schorria (est. 9 km), 985 Rosina (8.18 km) 1310 Villigera (15.24 km), and 1468 Zomba (7 km); but still smaller than the largest members of this dynamical group, namely, 132 Aethra, 323 Brucia, 1508 Kemi, 2204 Lyyli and 512 Taurinensis, which are larger than 20 kilometers in diameter (in one or other given source).

Naming

This minor planet was named after the port city of Beira in Mozambique.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center in April 1953 (M.P.C. 909).^[11]

Notes

1. Lightcurve plot of (1474) Beira, Robert Koff, Antelope Hills Observatory (H09). Summary figures at LCDB

References

1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1474 Beira (1935 QY)" (2016-09-09 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
2. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1474) Beira". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1474) Beira. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 118. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1475. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. "1474 Beira (1935 QY)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
4. "LCDB Data for (1474) Beira". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 21 October 2017.
5. Alí-Lagoa, V.; Licandro, J.; Gil-Hutton, R.; Cañ; ada-Assandri, M.; Delbo', M.; et al. (June 2016). "Differences between the Pallas collisional family and similarly sized B-type asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 591: 11. Bibcode:2016A&A...591A..14A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527660. hdl:11336/63614. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
6. Alí-Lagoa, V.; de León, J.; Licandro, J.; Delbó, M.; Campins, H.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; et al. (June 2013). "Physical properties of B-type asteroids from WISE data". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 554: 16. arXiv:1303.5487. Bibcode:2013A&A...554A..71A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201220680. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
7. Alí-Lagoa, V.; Delbo', M. (July 2017). "Sizes and albedos of Mars-crossing asteroids from WISE/NEOWISE data" (PDF). Astronomy and Astrophysics. 603: 8. arXiv:1705.10263. Bibcode:2017A&A...603A..55A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629917. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
8. Strabla, Luca; Quadri, Ulisse; Girelli, Robert (April 2013). "Asteroid Observed from Bassano Bresciano Observatory 2012 August-September". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 40 (2): 83–84. Bibcode:2013MPBu...40...83S. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
9. Koff, Robert A. (June 2004). "Lightcurve photometry of Mars-crossing asteroids 1474 Beira and 3674 Erbisbuhl". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 31 (2): 33–34. Bibcode:2004MPBu...31...33K. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
10. Apostolovska, Gordana; Ivanova, Violeta; Borisov, Galin (June 2004). "Lightcurves and rotational periods of 1474 Beira, 1309 Hyperborea, and 2525 O'Steen". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 31 (2): 44–45. Bibcode:2004MPBu...31...44A. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
11. 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. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-01965-4. ISBN 978-3-642-01964-7.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 2017-12-16 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 1474 Beira at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 1474 Beira at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters