Discovered by K. Reinmuth MPC designation 1611 Beyer Alternative names 1950 DJ · 1958 RE Discovered 17 February 1950 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 17 February 1950 Named after Max Beyer (astronomer) Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Absolute magnitude 11.3 Discoverer Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth | |
Discovery site Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl Similar 1862 Apollo, Sun, 1419 Danzig, 1056 Azalea, 1111 Reinmuthia | ||
1611 Beyer, provisional designation 1950 DJ, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 February 1950, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.
Beyer is a C-type asteroid. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,066 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. Its observation arc begins with its official discovery observation, as no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.
Astronomers Pierre Antonini and Silvano Casulli obtained a rotational light-curve of Beyer from photometric observations taken in July 2009. It gave a rotation period of 13.29 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 magnitude (U=2+). In October 2010, observations in the R-band at the Palomar Transient Factory gave a similar period of 13.2608 hours and an amplitude of 0.12 magnitude (U=2).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Beyer measures between 15.46 and 24.44 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.062 and 0.101. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 24.30 kilometers.
This minor planet was named by the discoverer for Max Beyer (1894–1982), German astronomer at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg. Beyer was also on the post-war editorial board of the Astronomische Gesellschaft. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 1948).