11824 Alpaidze, provisional designation 1982 SO5, is a stony background asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 16 September 1982, by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for Soviet General Galaktion Alpaidze.[2]

11824 Alpaidze
Discovery[1]
Discovered byL. Chernykh
Discovery siteCrimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date16 September 1982
Designations
(11824) Alpaidze
Named after
Galaktion Alpaidze
(Plesetsk Cosmodrome)[2]
1982 SO5 · 1978 WV1
main-belt · (middle)[3]
background
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc37.98 yr (13,874 days)
Aphelion3.4452 AU
Perihelion1.8267 AU
2.6359 AU
Eccentricity0.3070
4.28 yr (1,563 days)
59.051°
0° 13m 49.08s / day
Inclination1.7272°
1.3721°
353.03°
Physical characteristics
4.83 km (calculated)[3]
4.1146±0.0021 h[4]
4.1157±0.0021 h[4]
0.10 (assumed)[3]
S/C[3]
14.7[1][3] · 15.309±0.001 (S)[4] · 14.692±0.001 (R)[4]

Orbit and classification

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Alpaidze is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 1.8–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,563 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.31 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] It was first identified as 1978 WV1 at Palomar Observatory in November 1978. The body's observation arc, however, begins with its official discovery observation.[2]

Naming

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This minor planet was named after Georgian-born Soviet Lieutenant General Galaktion Alpaidze (1916–2006), Hero of the Soviet Union and laureate of the USSR State Prize. He was the head of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the 1960s and 1970s, where space crafts were tested. During his supervision, the Cosmodrome became the world's most active launch site in the world.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 April 2007 (M.P.C. 59385).[5]

Physical characteristics

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Lightcurves

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In September 2009, two rotational lightcurves of Alpaidze were obtained from photometric observations made by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory, California. The fragmentary lightcurves gave a rotation period of 4.1157 and 4.1146 hours with a brightness variation of 0.05 and 0.06 in magnitude, respectively (U=1/1).[4]

Diameter and albedo

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The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10 – a compromise value between the stony (0.20) and carbonaceous (0.057) albedos for unknown asteroids in the 2.6–2.7 AU region of the main-belt – and calculates a diameter of 4.8 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.7.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 11824 Alpaidze (1982 SO5)" (2016-11-23 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "11824 Alpaidze (1982 SO5)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (11824) Alpaidze". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  5. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
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