Discovered by K. Korlević MPC designation 10415 Mali Lošinj Discovered 23 October 1998 Orbits Sun Discovery site Višnjan Observatory | Discovery date 23 October 1998 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Absolute magnitude 11.8 Discoverer Korado Korlević Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Mali Lošinj
(Croatian island) Alternative names 1998 UT15 · 1925 VM
1962 WE1 · 1977 TN3
1987 SW20 · 1988 VW7 | ||
10415 Mali Lošinj, provisional designation 1998 UT15, is a dark asteroid and very slow rotator from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Croatian astronomer Korado Korlević at Višnjan Observatory, Croatia, on 23 October 1998.
The C-type asteroid is also classified as a X-type body. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.9–3.1 AU once every 5 years and 2 months (1,887 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.03 and an inclination of 14° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was obtained at Goethe Link Observatory in 1962, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 36 years prior to its discovery. The first unused observations were made at Heidelberg Observatory in 1925.
In 2013, photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory, California, rendered an rotational light-curve that showed a rotation period of 7002240511500000000♠240.5115±20.6153 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.48 in magnitude (U=2). A body of this size usually rotates within hours once around its axis.
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 13.5 and 16.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.13 and 0.15. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a somewhat larger diameter of 18.8 kilometers.
The minor planet is named after the Croatian island of Mali Lošinj, located in the northern Adriatic Sea. The island and the city of Mali Lošinj are well known for its nautical school and the Leo Brener Observatory. The minor planet 10645 Brač is also named after a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. Naming citation was published on 15 December 2005 (M.P.C. 55720).