Discovered by M. B. Protitch MPC designation 1550 Tito Observation arc 74.52 yr (27,219 days) Inclination 8.8741° Discoverer Milorad B. Protić | Discovery date 29 November 1937 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Discovered 29 November 1937 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1937 WD · 1941 XA1941 YE · 1945 WB1949 UR · 1983 CG3 Discovery site Belgrade Astronomical Observatory | ||
1550 Tito, provisional designation 1937 WD, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 29 November 1937, by Serbian astronomer Milorad B. Protić at the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory in Serbia. It was named for Yugoslavian statesman Josip Broz Tito.
Description
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,484 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.31 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. Tito's observation arc begins 4 years after its official discovery observation, with its first used observation taken at Belgrade in 1941. No precoveries were taken and no prior identifications were made.
Tito has a rotation period of approximately 54 hours. While this does not make it a slow rotator, it has a significantly longer period than the vast majority of minor planets, which typically spin every 2 to 20 hours around their axis. Rotational light-curves of Tito were obtained from photometric observations by Walter R. Cooney Jr. in January 2003, who derived a period of 54.2 hours (Δmag 0.23, U=2), by Raymond Poncy in December 2006, who obtained a shorter, provisional period of 30 hours (Δmag 0.16, U=2), and by David Higgins in December 2010, who derived a period of 54.53 hours (Δmag 0.40, U=2).
According to the surveys carried out by the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Tito measures between 9.47 and 13.652 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.181 and 0.257. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 12.39 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.9.
Tito was named in honour of Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), leader of the Yugoslavian resistance during the World War II, early enthusiast of the United Nations, and president of former Yugoslavia. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 2277).