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3635 Kreutz, provisional designation 1981 WO₁, is a slowly rotating Hungaria asteroid and Mars-crosser from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 November 1981, by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek at the Calar Alto Observatory in southern Spain.

Orbit and classification

Kreutz is a Mars-crossing asteroid, a member of a dynamically unstable group between the main belt and the near-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU. It has also been classified as a member of the dynamical Hungaria group.

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–1.9 AU once every 2 years and 5 months (878 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 19° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation as no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Kreutz is characterized as a common stony S-type asteroid.

Slow rotator

In November 2012, a rotational lightcurve of Kreutz was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory (716) in Colorado. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 280±5 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 magnitude (U=2+), superseding a previous result that gave 39 hours (U=2).

As most asteroids have a much shorter rotation period of 2 to 20 hours, Kreutz'es period of 280 hours is among the Top 200 slow rotators known to exist.

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Kreutz measures 2.94 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.269, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 3.41 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 14.7.

With a mean-diameter of approximately 3 kilometers, Kreutz is one of the smaller mid-sized Mars-crossing asteroids. It is assumed that there are up to 10 thousand Mars-crossers larger than 1 kilometer. The largest members of this dynamical group are 132 Aethra, 323 Brucia, 2204 Lyyli and 512 Taurinensis, which measure between 43 and 25 kilometers in diameter.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Heinrich Kreutz (1854–1907), German astronomer at the Kiel Observatory and editor of the journal Astronomische Nachrichten, known for his study of bright sungrazing comets. The family of Kreutz sungrazers, fragments of a parent comet that broke up several centuries ago, is also named after him. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 November 2004 (M.P.C. 53173).

Notes

1. ^ Lightcurve plot of (3635) Kreutz by Brian D. Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory (2012). Rotation period 280±5 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.25±0.03 mag. Summary figures at the LCDB

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3635 Kreutz (1981 WO1)" (2016-07-01 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2006). "(3635) Kreutz [1.79, 0.08, 19.2]". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (3635) Kreutz, Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 19. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-34361-5_42. ISBN 978-3-540-34361-5.
3. ^ "3635 Kreutz (1981 WO1)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
4. ^ "LCDB Data for (3635) Kreutz". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 3 June 2017.
5. ^ Alí-Lagoa, V.; Delbo', M. (July 2017). "Sizes and albedos of Mars-crossing asteroids from WISE/NEOWISE data". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 603: 8. arXiv:1705.10263. Bibcode:2017A&A...603A..55A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629917. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
6. ^ Warner, Brian D. (September 2006). "Asteroid lightcurve analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory - late 2005 and early 2006". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 33 (3): 58–62. Bibcode:2006MPBu...33...58W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
7. ^ Warner, Brian D. (April 2013). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: 2012 September - 2013 January". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 40 (2): 71–80. Bibcode:2013MPBu...40...71W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
8. Steel, D. I. (August 1985). "Collisions in the solar systems. II - Asteroid impacts upon Mars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 215 (3): 369–381. Bibcode:1985MNRAS.215..369S. doi:10.1093/mnras/215.3.369. ISSN 0035-8711. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
9. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 June 2017.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 2017-12-16 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 3635 Kreutz at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Mars-crossing asteroids
• Hungaria asteroids
• Discoveries by Luboš Kohoutek
• Named minor planets
• Slow rotating minor planets
• S-type asteroids (SMASS)
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1981