Discovered by R. A. Kowalski Discovery date 7 November 1998 Alternative names 1998 VA Absolute magnitude 13.1 | Discovery site Quail Hollow Obs. MPC designation 14627 Emilkowalski Discovered 7 November 1998 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Emil Kowalski(discoverer's family) Similar Asteroid belt, Sun, 2014 AA | ||
14627 Emilkowalski, provisional designation 1998 VA, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 to 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 November 1998, by American astronomer Richard Kowalski at the U.S. Quail Hollow Observatory () in Zephyrhills, Florida.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.2–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,532 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 18° with respect to the ecliptic. Emilkowalski is the biggest member of a collisional group of asteroids, that resulted from the destruction of a larger parent body. The disruption happened approximately 220,000 years ago and it is one of the most recent asteroid breakups discovered in the main belt. The first unused observation at Palomar Observatory (DSS) dates back to 1953. The first used precovery was taken at Siding Spring Observatory in 1975, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 23 years prior to its discovery.
Between January and March 2012, photometric observations for this asteroid were made by a team led by Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory, Czech Republic. The three obtained rotational light-curves gave an identical period of 7001111310000000000♠11.131 hours with a brightness variation of 0.55, 0.64 and 0.65 in magnitude, respectively (U=3/2+/3-). Previously, during the first quarter of 2008, a light-curve was obtained from observations at Simeiz Observatory and the Chuguev Observing Station (121) in Ukraine, as well as at Maidanak Observatory, Uzbekistan. It also gave a period of 11.131 hours with an amplitude of 0.85 in magnitude, which implies an elongated shape (U=n.a.).
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 7.0 and 7.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.12 and 0.20, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL), however, assumes an albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and hence calculates a larger diameter of 10.6 kilometers. While CALL assigns a C-type for the asteroid's spectra, a study based on data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, Pan-STARRS (PS1), assigns a DL-type.
The minor planet is named after American Emil Kowalski (1918–1994) from Syosset, New York. She inspired the discoverer of space science when he was still a child. Naming citation was published on 4 August 2001 (M.P.C. 43192).