1050 Meta, provisional designation 1925 RC, is a stony Eunomia asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 14 September 1925, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany.[1] The meaning of the asteroids's name is unknown.[2] The presumably S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 6.14 hours and possibly an elongated shape.[4]
Orbit and classification
Meta is a member of the Eunomia family (502),[4][5] a prominent family of stony S-type asteroid and the largest one in the intermediate main belt with more than 5,000 members.[12]: 23 It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,554 days; semi-major axis of 2.63 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.[3]
The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as A908 SE at Heidelberg in October 1908, or 17 years prior to its official discovery observation.[1]
Naming
Any reference of this minor planet's name to a person or occurrence is unknown.[2]
In October 2006, a rotational lightcurve of Meta was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 6.142 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.46 magnitude, indicating that the asteroid has an elongated shape (U=3).[10]
A modeled lightcurve using photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database was published in 2016. It gave a concurring period of 6.14188 hours, as well as two spin axes at (60.0°, −42.0°) and (198.0°, −79.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[9]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 – derived from 15 Eunomia, the namesake and parent body of the Eunomia family – and calculates a diameter of 10.53 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.2.[4]
^ abcMasiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121.
^ 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)
^Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "Appendix 11 – Minor Planet Names with Unknown Meaning". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – Fifth Revised and Enlarged revision. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 927–929. ISBN978-3-540-00238-3.