1677 Tycho Brahe, provisional designation 1940 RO, is a stony Marian asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 6 September 1940, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland.[1] The common stony S-type asteroid has a short rotation period of 3.89 hours.[5] It was later named after Tycho Brahe, one of the fathers of astronomy.[2]
| Tycho Brahe modeled from its lightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Y. Väisälä |
| Discovery site | Turku Obs. |
| Discovery date | 6 September 1940 |
| Designations | |
| (1677) Tycho Brahe | |
Named after | Tycho Brahe[2] (Danish astronomer) |
| 1940 RO · 1928 SP 1935 FL · 1952 QN1 1952 SD1 · A916 UA | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (middle) Maria[4] · Eunomia[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 82.92 yr (30,285 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.8037 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2607 AU |
| 2.5322 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1072 |
| 4.03 yr (1,472 d) | |
| 130.28° | |
| 0° 14m 40.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 14.853° |
| 337.91° | |
| 318.29° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 8.90±0.72 km[6] 11.686±0.116 km[7] 11.784±0.093 km[8] 13.26 km (calculated)[5] | |
| 3.89±0.06 h[9] | |
| 0.21 (assumed)[5] 0.221±0.031[8] 0.2277±0.0388[7] 0.466±0.090[6] | |
| S[5][10][a] | |
| 11.70[3][5][6] 11.9[7] 12.21±0.04[10] | |
When applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements, Tycho Brahe is a member of the Maria family (506),[4] a large family of stony asteroids.[11]: 23 Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Eunomia family (502), the largest family in the intermediate main belt with more than 5,000 members.[5]
It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.3–2.8 AU once every 4.03 years (1,472 days; semi-major axis of 2.53 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The asteroid was first observed as A916 UA at Bergedorf Observatory in October 1916, extending the body’s observation arc by 24 years prior to its official discovery observation at Turku.[1]
The asteroid has been characterized as a stony S-type by Pan-STARRS survey, and in the SDSS-MFB (Masi Foglia Binzel) taxonomy,[5][10][a] which agree with the overall spectral type for members of the Maria family.[11]: 23
In July 2012, a rotational lightcurve of Tycho Brahe was obtained by Renata Violante and Martha Leake, that gave a short rotation period of 3.89 hours with a brightness variation of 0.38 magnitude (U=2+).[5][9]
According to the survey carried out by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Tycho Brahe measures 11.78 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.221 (revised 2014-figures).[8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21, derived from the family’s largest member and namesake, 15 Eunomia, and calculates a diameter of 13.26 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 11.7.[5]
This minor planet is named for the great Danish-born astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) an early forerunner and father of modern astronomy. He is known for his unprecedented precise measurements in the pre-telescopic era.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 15 October 1977 (M.P.C. 4236).[12] Brahe is also honored by the prominent crater Tycho in the southern highlands of the Moon and by the Martian crater Tycho Brahe.[2] The bright supernova, SN 1572, is also known as Tycho’s Nova.
- ^ a b Search for Unusual Spectroscopic Candidates Among 40313 minor planets from the 3rd Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog (publication). SDSS-MFB (Masi Foglia Binzel) taxonomy (catalog).
- ^ a b c d “1677 Tycho Brahe (1940 RO)”. Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). “(1677) Tycho Brahe”. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 133. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1678. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
- ^ a b c d “JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1677 Tycho Brahe (1940 RO)” (2018-02-26 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ a b “Asteroid 1677 Tycho Brahe – Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0”. Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j “LCDB Data for (1677) Tycho Brahe”. Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ^ a b c Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Nugent, C.; et al. (November 2012). “Preliminary Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-cryogenic Observations of Main Belt Asteroids”. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 759 (1): 5. arXiv:1209.5794. Bibcode:2012ApJ…759L…8M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/759/1/L8.
- ^ a b c Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). “NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results”. The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ…741…90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Violante, R.; Leake, M. A. (December 2012). “Photometry and Lightcurve Analysis of 7 Main-Belt Asteroids”. Journal of the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy. 7: 41–44. Bibcode:2012JSARA…7…41V. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ^ a b c Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). “Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 – Preliminary results”. Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261…34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007.
- ^ a b Nesvorný, D.; Broz, M.; Carruba, V. (December 2014). “Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families”. Asteroids IV. pp. 297–321. arXiv:1502.01628. Bibcode:2015aste.book..297N. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016. ISBN 9780816532131.
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2009). “Appendix – Publication Dates of the MPCs”. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – Addendum to Fifth Edition (2006–2008). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 221. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-01965-4. ISBN 978-3-642-01964-7.
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 1677 Tycho Brahe at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 1677 Tycho Brahe at the JPL Small-Body Database
