Discovered by G. Neujmin Discovery date 19 August 1933 Minor planet category main-belt · Koronis Orbits Sun | Discovery site Simeiz Obs. MPC designation 1289 Kutaissi Discovered 19 August 1933 | |
Alternative names 1933 QR · 1928 QD1948 TJ2 · 1953 TO2A893 GA · A919 UC Similar Sun, 951 Gaspra, 824 Anastasia, 847 Agnia, 762 Pulcova | ||
1289 Kutaïssi, provisional designation 1933 QR, is a stony Koronian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 August 1933, by Soviet astronomer Grigory Neujmin at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. It was independently discovered a few days later by Eugène Delporte at the Belgian Uccle Observatory on 25 August, as well as by Cyril Jackson at the South African Johannesburg Observatory on 11 September 1933.
Kutaïssi is a S-type asteroid and member of the Koronis family, a group consisting of about 200 known bodies, thought to have been formed at least two billion years ago in a catastrophic collision between two larger bodies. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 10 months (1,766 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as A893 GA at Heidelberg in 1893. The body's observation arc begins with its identification as 1928 QD at Simeiz in 1928, or 5 years prior to its official discovery observation.
The first rotational light curve of Kutaïssi was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Richard Binzel in February 1984. It gave a rotation period of 3.60 hours with a brightness variation of 0.40 magnitude (U=3). Between 1987 and 2004, a group of American astronomers obtained additional concurring light curves with a period of 3.624 hours and an amplitude between 0.30 and 0.42 magnitude (U=3/3-/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, Kutaïssi measures between 19.20 and 25.62 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.1374 and 0.245. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.1216 and a diameter of 25.53 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.87.
This minor planet was named after the city of Kutaisi, now the legislative capital of Georgia, and its second largest city, after the capital Tbilisi. Naming citation was first mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 118).