1430 Somalia, provisional designation 1937 NK, is a stony background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 July 1937, by astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg.[14] It was named for the African country of Somalia.[2]
The asteroid was first identified as 1929 RQ at Simeiz or Lowell observatories in September 1929. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg in 1937.[14]
In 2011, two rotational lightcurves of Somalia were obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy, and by astronomers at the Bassano Bresciano Observatory (565) in Italy. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 6.910 and 6.913 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.40 and 0.45 magnitude, respectively (U=3-/3).[11][12]
In 2016, a modeled lightcurve was derived from various photometric database sources, giving a concurring sidereal period of 6.90907 hours. The modelled lightcurve also determined two spin axis of (297.0°, 42.0°) and (128.0°, 47.0°) in ecliptic coordinates.[10]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 10.79 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.2.[9]
^ 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)