Discovered by G. Reiss MPC designation 1237 Genevieve Discovered 2 December 1931 Discoverer Guy Reiss Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 2 December 1931 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Orbits Sun Discovery site Algiers Observatory | |
Named after Geneviève Reiss
(daughter of discoverer) Alternative names 1931 XB · 1929 GA
1984 MM · A908 HA People also search for 1236 Thaïs, Sun, 1213 Algeria, 1299 Mertona, 1300 Marcelle, 1376 Michelle | ||
1237 Geneviève, provisional designation 1931 XB, is an asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 38 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 December 1931, by French astronomer Guy Reiss at the Algerian Algiers Observatory in North Africa.
Geneviève orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.4–2.8 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,542 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic. In 1908, it was first identified as A908 HA at Taunton Observatory (803). A few days later, Geneviève was also observed at the U.S. Naval Observatory, which extended the body's observation arc by 23 years prior to its official discovery observation at Algiers.
In May 1984, American astronomer Richard Binzel obtained a rotational light-curve of Geneviève that gave a rotation period of 16.37 hours with a brightness variation of 0.23 magnitude (U=2). A divergent period of 24.82 hours with an amplitude of 0.07 magnitude was obtained from photometric observations by astronomer Raymond Poncy in April 2005 (U=2-).
According to the 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, Geneviève measures between 30.85 and 40.67 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.057 and 0.07 (without preliminary results). The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) agrees with the results obtained by IRAS, and derives an albedo of 0.0484 and a diameter of 39.74 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 10.91. CALL also classifies it a stony S-type asteroid, despite its low albedo.
This minor planet was named for the eldest daughter of the discoverer, Geneviève Reiss. The discoverer also named 1300 Marcelle and 1376 Michelle after his other two daughters. Naming citation was first mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 114).