Discovered by K. Reinmuth Discovered 29 September 1924 Discoverer Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 29 September 1924 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Orbits Sun | |
Alternative names 1924 SW · 1935 SU1969 TJ4 · A913 UC Observation arc 102.63 yr (37,484 days) Discovery site Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl Similar 1056 Azalea, 1002 Olbersia, 1001 Gaussia, 1036 Ganymed, 1111 Reinmuthia | ||
1035 Amata, provisional designation 1924 SW, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 57 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany on 29 September 1924.
The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,049 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 18° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used observation was taken at the discovering observatory in 1913, extending the body's observation arc by 11 years prior to its discovery.
In October 2002, a rotational light-curve of Amata was obtained from photometric observations by American amateur astronomer Robert Stevens at the Santana Observatory (646) in California. It gave a rotation period of 7000908100000000000♠9.081±0.001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.44 in magnitude (U=3). In the same month, another observation was made at the Oakley Observatory in the U.S. state of Indiana and gave a very similar period of 7000905000000000000♠9.05±0.01 hours and a variation in brightness of 0.32 in magnitude (U=2).
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Amata measures between 50.7 and 62.2 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a low albedo between 0.038 and 0.052. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derived a diameter of 50.7 kilometers and an albedo of 0.057.
Amata's name is of uncertain origin. It is thought to have been named after Amata, wife of King Latinus in Roman mythology and a character in Virgil's Aeneid. She is also the mother of Lavinia, the wife of Aeneas, after whom 1172 Äneas, one of the largest Jupiter trojans, is named.