2577 Litva Explained

Minorplanet:yes
2577 Litva
Background:
  1. FA8072
Discovery Ref: 
Discovered:12 March 1975
Mpc Name:(2577) Litva
Pronounced:pronounced as /ru/
Alt Names:1934 VY
1954 JD
Named After:Литва́ (Lithuania)
Orbit Ref: 
Epoch:4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty:0
Observation Arc:82.59 yr (30,166 days)
Perihelion:1.6420 AU
Semimajor:1.9045 AU
Eccentricity:0.1379
Period:2.63 yr (960 days)
Mean Motion: / day
Inclination:22.908°
Asc Node:182.60°
Arg Peri:284.04°
Satellites:2
Dimensions:4.23 km
Rotation: h
h
h
h
h
h
Albedo:
0.40
Spectral Type:Tholen = EU Sl Q EU 
B–V = 0.787
U–B = 0.340
Abs Magnitude:13.18

2577 Litva, provisional designation, is a Hungarian-type Mars-crosser and rare trinary asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter.

It was discovered on 12 March 1975, by Soviet–Ukrainian astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. It was named for the former Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, which is now the nation of Lithuania.

Orbit and classification

Litva is a member of the Hungaria family, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–2.2 AU once every 2 years and 8 months (960 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic.

Physical characteristics

In the Tholen taxonomy, Litva is classified as an EU-type, a subtype of the bright E-type asteroids. It has also been characterized as a Sl-type and Q-type asteroid by astronomers using the New Technology Telescope at La Silla and by PanSTARRS photometric survey, respectively.

Rotation period

The body has a rotation period between 2.81288 and 2.82 hours, superseding the original measurement that gave 5.618 hours. Most recent photometric observation from 2014, gave a refined period of hours, using a statistical Bayesian inference methodology.

Trinary system

In March 2009 the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams announced the discovery of a moon orbiting the asteroid. The satellite measures about 1.4 kilometer in diameter and orbits Litva at distance of 21 kilometers, with an orbital period of 1 day, 11 hours, and 53 minutes. In 2012, a second satellite orbiting at a distance of 378 kilometers, with a diameter of 1.2 kilometers, was discovered, with a orbitial period of 214 days. The discovery was announced in late 2013. This made 2577 Litva the 11th asteroid discovered to be in a trinary system.

Naming

This minor planet was named after the Russian name for the Baltic state Lithuania, former member of the Soviet Union and now an independent Republic. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 December 1982 .

External links