Discovered by K. Reinmuth Discovered 2 September 1929 Discoverer Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 2 September 1929 Orbits Sun | |
Alternative names 1929 RC · 1928 FJ1949 UD · 1962 LAA906 VC Discovery site Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl Similar 1111 Reinmuthia, 167 Urda, 76 Freia, 1102 Pepita, 193 Ambrosia | ||
1130 Skuld, provisional designation 1929 RC, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 September 1929, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The body was independently discovered by astronomers and fellow countrymen Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Wachmann at the Hamburger Bergedorf Observatory ten nights later.
Skuld is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony S-type asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,215 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as A906 VC at Heidelberg in 1906, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 23 years prior to its official discovery observation.
In January 2004, the first rotational lightcurves of Skuld were obtained by Henk de Groot and by a group of Polish and French astronomers. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 4.73 and 4.8079 hours with a brightness variation of 0.46 and 0.40 magnitude, respectively (U=2+/3-). In 2009 and 2011, astronomers Robert Buchheim and Larry Robinson obtained two well-defined lightcurves from photometric observations. They gave a refined period of 4.810 and 4.807 hours with an amplitude of 0.50 and 0.26 magnitude, respectively (U=3/3).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Skuld measures between 9.63 and 11.009 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.1995 and 0.302. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 9.99 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 12.17.
This minor planet was named after Skuld, one of the three Norns in Norse mythology. The asteroids 167 Urda and 621 Werdandi are named after the other two Norns. Naming citation was first mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 110).