It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.9–5.5 AU once every 11 years and 11 months (4,350 days; semi-major axis of 5.21 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and a notably high inclination of 35° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The asteroid was first observed as 1975 VT5 at Crimea–Nauchnij in November 1975. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at the Toruń Centre.[1]
In the SDSS-based taxonomy, Cteatus is a dark D-type asteroid.[12] It has also been characterized as a D-type by Pan-STARRS' survey.[4][11] Its V–I color index of 0.98 agrees with that of most Jovian D-type asteroids.[4]
Rotation period
In October 2009, a rotational lightcurve of Cteatus was obtained from photometric observations by Italian astronomer Stefano Mottola at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 27.770 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.40 magnitude (U=3).[4][10] While not being a slow rotator, its period is significantly longer than that of most larger Jupiter trojans, which have a spin rate of typically 10 hours. The body's relatively high brightness variation of 0.40 magnitude is also indicative of a non-spherical shape.
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, this asteroid measures between 68.97 and 75.28 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.062 and 0.071.[7][8][9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0647 and a diameter of 68.89 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.4.[4]
100+ largest Jupiter trojans
Largest Jupiter Trojans by survey(A) (mean-diameter in kilometers; YoD: Year of Discovery)
Note: missing data was completed with figures from the JPL SBDB (query) and from the LCDB (query form) for the WISE/NEOWISE and SIMPS catalogs, respectively. These figures are given in italics. Also, listing is incomplete above #100.
^ abcdTedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System – IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
^ 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)