Discovered by T. Mitani MPC designation 1619 Ueta Discovered 11 October 1953 Discovery site Kwasan Observatory | Discovery date 11 October 1953 Minor planet category main-belt · (inner) Orbits Sun Discoverer Tetsuyasu Mitani Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Mr Ueta(observatory's director) Alternative names 1953 TA · 1926 RR1931 AO · 1940 YJ1951 AG1 · 1978 GM Similar Asteroid belt, Solar System, 1620 Geographos, Sun | ||
1619 Ueta, provisional designation 1953 TA, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 11 October 1953, by Japanese astronomer Tetsuyasu Mitani at Kyoto University's Kwasan Observatory, near Kyoto, Japan.
Ueta is a S-type asteroid. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,225 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as 1926 RR at Johannesburg in 1926. Ueta's observation arc begins 22 years prior to its official discovery observation with a precovery taken at Lowell Observatory in 1931.
Several rotational light-curves of Ueta were obtained from photometric observations. Best rated light-curves were obtained by astronomers Robert D. Stephens and David Higgins in September 2009, securing an identical rotation period of 2.720 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 and 0.39 magnitude, respectively (U=3/3). Modeled light-curves from various photometric data sources also gave a similar period of 2.717943 and 2.718238 hours (U=n.a.).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Ueta measures between 7.13 and 9.93 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.251 and 0.479. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 11.04 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 12.15.
Ueta was named by the discoverer for the former Director of Kwasan Observatory (also see § External links) who encouraged him to keep on with his observations of minor planets and comets. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 2347).