Discovered by K. Reinmuth MPC designation 1206 Numerowia Orbital period 1,772 days Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 18 October 1931 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Discovered 18 October 1931 Discoverer Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth | |
Alternative names 1931 UH · 1974 QE1974 TY1 Discovery site Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl Similar 1207 Ostenia, 1862 Apollo, Sun, 1419 Danzig, 1056 Azalea | ||
1206 Numerowia, provisional designation 1931 UH, is an assumed carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, about 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany on 18 October 1931.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 10 months (1,772 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.06 and is tilted by 13 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. It has a rotation period of 4.8 hours and an albedo of 0.14–0.17, based on observations by the Japanese Akari and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellites. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes the body to be a carbonaceous C-type asteroid, rather than a silicaceous one, with a much lower geometric albedo of 0.06. As a consequence, the body's diameter would be twice as large, or about 28 kilometers, compared to the results by the space-based Akari and WISE missions.
The minor planet was named after Russian astronomer and geophysicist Boris Numerov (1891–1941), founder and director of the Institute for Theoretical Astronomy in Leningrad, who was executed for espionage by the Soviet Union in 1941. The accusation was based on the fact that a German had named the asteroid after him. In 1957, his memory was rehabilitated. The lunar crater Numerov was also named in his honour.