1651 Behrens Explained

Minorplanet:yes
1651 Behrens
Background:
  1. D6D6D6
Discovered:23 April 1936
Mpc Name:(1651) Behrens
Alt Names:1936 HD1939 EJ
1940 QD1944 YA
1947 WA
1952 FF1952 HB
1952 KG1958 BC
1961 AB1963 UQ
Named After:Johann Behrens
Epoch:4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty:0
Observation Arc:81.03 yr (29,597 days)
Perihelion:2.0354 AU
Semimajor:2.1796 AU
Eccentricity:0.0661
Period:3.22 yr (1,175 days)
Mean Motion: / day
Inclination:5.0752°
Asc Node:187.51°
Arg Peri:339.10°
Dimensions:
km
km
10.31 km
km
Albedo:
0.24


Abs Magnitude:12.112.56

1651 Behrens, provisional designation, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Marguerite Laugier in 1936, it was named after Johann Behrens.

Discovery

Behrens was discovered on 23 April 1936, by French astronomer Marguerite Laugier at Nice Observatory in southeastern France. It was independently discovered by Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory, Germany in the following month.

Classification and orbit

Behrens is an S-type asteroid and member of the Flora family, a large group of stony asteroids in the inner main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.3 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,175 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. As no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, the body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

Astronomers Laurent Bernasconi and Stéphane Charbonnel obtained a rotational lightcurve of Behrens from photometric observations made in August 2001. It gave a longer than average rotation period of 34.34 hours with a brightness variation of 0.16 magnitude .

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Behrens measures between 8.96 and 10.33 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.20 and 0.318. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 10.31 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.1.

Naming

Based on a proposal by Otto Kippes, who verified the discovery, this minor planet was named after Johann Gerhard Behrens (1889–1978), German amateur astronomer and pastor at Detern, in lower Saxony. He was known for his orbit computations on comets and minor planets. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 October 1980 .

External links