Discovered by N. Chernykh MPC designation 14335 Alexosipov Discovered 3 September 1981 Discoverer Nikolai Chernykh Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 3 September 1981 Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Orbits Sun Asteroid family Flora family | |
Named after Alexandr Osipov
(astronomer) Alternative names 1981 RR3 · 1971 SZ1
1971 TE1 Discovery site Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Similar 2577 Litva, Sun, 8 Flora | ||
14335 Alexosipov, provisional designation 1981 RR3, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Soviet–Russian astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on 3 September 1981.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony 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 (1,221 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. The first astrometric observations were already made at the discovering observatory in 1971, 10 years prior to its discovery. However, these observations were not used to extend the asteroid's observation arc.
A rotational light-curve was obtained from photometric observations made by American astronomer Brian Skiff in October 2011. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000718000000000000♠7.18±0.01 hours with a low brightness variation of 0.10 in magnitude (U=3). A low brightness amplitude typically indicates that the body has a nearly spheroidal shape.
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 4.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.279, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – which derives from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 3.9 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 14.2.
The minor planet was named in memory of astronomer Alexandr Kuzmich Osipov (1920–2004), observer of artificial satellites, the Moon, planets and comets at the Astronomical Observatory of Kyiv National University in Kiev, Ukraine. He is described as a skilled teacher for many generations of students. Naming citation was published on 15 December 2005 (M.P.C. 55721).