| Minorplanet: | yes |
| Background: |
|
| 762 Pulcova | |
| Discoverer: | G. N. Neujmin |
| Discovered: | 3 September 1913 |
| Mpc Name: | (762) Pulcova |
| Adjective: | Pulcovian [1] |
| Named After: | Pulkovo Heights |
| Alt Names: | 1913 SQ |
| Mp Category: | Main belt |
| Epoch: | 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) |
| Aphelion: | 3.4801abbr=onNaNabbr=on (Q) |
| Perihelion: | 2.8291AU (q) |
| Semimajor: | 3.1546AU (a) |
| Eccentricity: | 0.10319 (e) |
| Period: | 5.60 yr (2046.5 d) |
| Inclination: | 13.089° (i) |
| Asc Node: | 305.76° (Ω) |
| Mean Anomaly: | 348.62° (M) |
| Arg Peri: | 189.54° (ω) |
| Satellites: | S/2000 (762) 1 |
| Mean Radius: | km |
| Mass: | 1.40 kg |
| Density: | 0.90 g/cm3 |
| Sidereal Day: | 5.839 hr |
| Magnitude: | 11.93 to 14.79[2] |
| Abs Magnitude: | 8.28 |
| Mean Motion: | / day (n) |
| Observation Arc: | 100.08 yr (36553 d) |
| Uncertainty: | 0 |
| Rotation: | 5.839abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
| Moid: | 1.84297AU |
| Jupiter Moid: | 1.60162AU |
| Tisserand: | 3.158 |
762 Pulcova is a main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by Grigoriy N. Neujmin in 1913, and is named after Pulkovo Observatory, near Saint Petersburg. Pulcova is 137 km in diameter,[3] and is a C-type asteroid, which means that it is dark in colouring with a carbonate composition.
Photometric observations of this asteroid from Leura, Australia during 2006 gave a light curve with a period of 5.8403 ± 0.0005 hours and a brightness variation of 0.20 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This result is in agreement with previous studies.
On February 22, 2000,[4] astronomers at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, discovered a 15-km moon (roughly a tenth the size of the primary)[5] orbiting Pulcova at a distance of 800 km. Its orbital period is 4 days.[6] The satellite is about 4 magnitudes fainter than the primary. It was one of the first asteroid moons to be identified.
In the year 2000, Merline estimated Pulcova to have a density of 1.8 g/cm3, which would make it more dense than the trinary asteroid 45 Eugenia, and binary 90 Antiope.[7] But estimates by Marchis in 2008 suggest a density of only 0.90 g/cm3,[8] suggesting it may be a loosely packed rubble pile, not a monolithic object.