Discovered by A. Schmitt MPC designation 1622 Chacornac Discovered 15 March 1952 Discoverer Alfred Schmitt Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 15 March 1952 Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Orbits Sun Asteroid family Flora family | |
Named after Jean Chacornac
(astronomer) Alternative names 1952 EA · 1932 DD
1933 UX · 1939 KE
1942 EB1 · 1949 KF
1952 DP2 · 1953 TM1 Discovery site Royal Observatory of Belgium Similar Sun, 8 Flora, 25 Phocaea, 34 Circe, 38 Leda | ||
1622 Chacornac, provisional designation 1952 EA, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 March 1952, by French astronomer Alfred Schmitt at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,220 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Lowell Observatory in 1930, extending Chacornac's observation arc by 22 years prior to its official discovery observation.
Between 2009 and 2013, several rotational light-curves for this asteroid were obtained from photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory and the Hunters Hill Observatory, as well as by astronomers Eric Barbotin and Raoul Behrend. The light-curves gave a rotation period between 11.48 and 12.20 hours with a brightness variation between 0.21 and 0.25 in magnitude (U=2/2/2).
According to the survey carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, Chacornac measures 10.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.224, while observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission gave a diameter of 8.4 kilometers and a high albedo of 0.36. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the results obtained by AKARI and assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 9.9 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 12.2.
The minor planet was named in memory of French astronomer Jean Chacornac (1823–1873), an early discoverer of minor planets himself, most notably 25 Phocaea. He also discovered the parabolic comet C/1852 K1 (Chacornac) in 1852 and independently discovered 20 Massalia. The lunar crater Chacornac also bears his name. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4418).