921 Jovita (prov. designation: A919 RD or 1919 FV) is a dark background asteroid, approximately 58 kilometers (36 miles) in diameter, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 4 September 1919, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany.[1] The carbonaceous C-type asteroid (Ch) has a rotation period of 15.6 hours and is likely spherical in shape. It was named "Jovita", a common German female name unrelated to the discoverer's contemporaries, that was taken from the almanac Lahrer Hinkender Bote.[2][3]

921 Jovita
Discovery [1]
Discovered byK. Reinmuth
Discovery siteHeidelberg Obs.
Discovery date4 September 1919
Designations
(921) Jovita
Named after
Name picked from the almanac
Lahrer Hinkender Bote[2][3]
A919 RD · 1919 FV
1976 WM
main-belt[1][4] · (outer)
background[5][6]
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc100.34 yr (36,649 d)
Aphelion3.7546 AU
Perihelion2.5844 AU
3.1695 AU
Eccentricity0.1846
5.64 yr (2,061 d)
331.19°
0° 10m 28.92s / day
Inclination16.336°
204.91°
70.912°
Physical characteristics
  • 55.312±0.200 km[7]
  • 58.48±2.4 km[8]
  • 60.71±0.97 km[9]
15.64±0.02 h[10][a]
  • 0.075±0.018[7]
  • 0.0297±0.003[8]
  • 0.028±0.001[9]
10.0[1][4]

Orbit and classification

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Jovita is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.[5][6] It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.6–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,061 days; semi-major axis of 3.17 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 16° with respect to the ecliptic.[4] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg Observatory on 4 September 1919, the night after its official discovery observation.[1]

Naming

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This minor planet was named "Jovita", after a female name picked from the Lahrer Hinkender Bote, published in Lahr, southern Germany.[2] A Hinkender Bote (lit. "limping messenger") was a very popular almanac,[3] especially in the alemannic-speaking region from the late 17th throughout the early 20th century. The calendar section contains feast days, the dates of important fairs and astronomical ephemerides. The German name day analogue is given next to the protestant and catholic feast days (entry not found).

Reinmuth's calendar names

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As with 22 other asteroids – starting with 913 Otila, and ending with 1144 Oda – Reinmuth selected names from this calendar due to his many asteroid discoveries that he had trouble thinking of proper names. These names are not related to the discoverer's contemporaries. Lutz Schmadel, the author of the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names learned about Reinmuth's source of inspiration from private communications with Dutch astronomer Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, who worked as a young astronomer at Heidelberg.[2]

Physical characteristics

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In the Tholen- and SMASS-like taxonomy of the Small Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey (S3OS2), Jovita is a hydrated, carbonaceous Caa and Ch-type asteroid, respectively.[6][11]

Rotation period

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In August 2004, a rotational lightcurve of Jovita was obtained from photometric observations by . Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 15.64±0.02 hours with a brightness variation of 0.12±0.02 magnitude, indicative of a rather spherical shape (U=3−).[10][a] A lower rated period determination of 23.00±0.07 hours with an amplitude of 0.07±0.01 magnitude was made by French amateur astronomers René Roy and Laurent Bernasconi in September 2004 (U=2).[12]

Diameter and albedo

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According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, and the Japanese Akari satellite, Jovita measures (55.312±0.200), (58.48±2.4) and (60.71±0.97) kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo of (0.075±0.018), (0.0297±0.003) and (0.028±0.001), respectively.[7][8][9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.0670 and a diameter of 58.95 km based on an absolute magnitude of 9.7.[13] Alternative mean-diameters published by the WISE team include (48.63±15.32 km), (52.82±14.64 km), (58.197±1.703 km) and (63.41±0.55 km) with albedos between 0.048 and 0.069.[6][13] An asteroid occultation, observed on 5 February 2007, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of 58.0 × 58.0 kilometers.[6] These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star. However the quality of the measurement is rated poorly.[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Lightcurve plot of 921 Jovita, Palmer Divide Observatory, Brian Warner (2004): rotation period 15.64±0.02 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.12±0.02 mag. Quality code of 3−. Summary figures at the LCDB.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "921 Jovita (A919 RD)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(921) Jovita". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 82. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_922. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c "Lahrer hinkender Bote – Kalender 1925". Badischen Landesbibliothek. 1925. p. 1. Retrieved 21 February 2020. Lahrer Bote archive
  4. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 921 Jovita (A919 RD)" (2020-01-07 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Asteroid 921 Jovita – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Asteroid 921 Jovita". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Masiero, 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.
  8. ^ a b c Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Usui, 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)
  10. ^ a b Warner, Brian D. (March 2005). "Lightcurve analysis for asteroids 242, 893, 921, 1373, 1853, 2120, 2448 3022, 6490, 6517, 7187, 7757, and 18108" (PDF). Minor Planet Bulletin. 32 (1): 4–7. Bibcode:2005MPBu...32....4W. ISSN 1052-8091.
  11. ^ a b c Lazzaro, D.; Angeli, C. A.; Carvano, J. M.; Mothé-Diniz, T.; Duffard, R.; Florczak, M. (November 2004). "S3OS2: the visible spectroscopic survey of 820 asteroids" (PDF). Icarus. 172 (1): 179–220. Bibcode:2004Icar..172..179L. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.06.006. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  12. ^ Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (921) Jovita". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  13. ^ a b "LCDB Data for (921) Jovita". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 21 February 2020.
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