Discovered by L. Boyer MPC designation 1617 Alschmitt Discovered 20 March 1952 Orbits Sun Discovery site Algiers Observatory | Discovery date 20 March 1952 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Absolute magnitude 10.4 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1952 FB · 1929 CC11935 ER · 1941 HH1947 LS · 1952 DK21975 AJ · A906 DC People also search for 1339 Désagneauxa, Sun, 1606 Jekhovsky | ||
1617 Alschmitt, provisional designation 1952 FB, is an assumed carbonaceous asteroid from in the outer parts of the main belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 March 1952, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at Algiers Observatory in Algeria, Northern Africa.
This C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,090 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 13° with respect to the ecliptic. Alschmitt was first identified as A906 DC at Heidelberg in 1906, extending the body's observation arc by 46 years prior to its official discovery observation.
Two rotational light-curve of Alschmitt obtained in 2003 and 2004, by René Roy and Laurent Bernasconi, gave a well-defined rotation period of 7.0613 and 7.062 hours with a brightness variation of 0.39 and 0.52 in magnitude, respectively (U=3/3). In October 2010, the Palomar Transient Factory derived a period of 7.0602 hours with an amplitude 0.49 magnitude (U=2).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Alschmitt measures 21.12 and 21.28 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.190 and 0.270, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 36.78 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 10.9.
Boyer named this minor planet for his colleague Alfred Schmitt (1907–1973), astronomer at Algiers, Strasbourg and Quito observatories, who, 20 years earlier, had named the asteroid 1215 Boyer in his honor. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4418).