Discovered by Ernest Johnson MPC designation 1623 Vivian Discovered 9 August 1948 Discoverer Ernest Leonard Johnson Discovery site Union Observatory | Discovery date 9 August 1948 Minor planet category main-belt · Themis Orbits Sun Asteroid family Themis family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Vivian Hirst
(daughter of a astronomer) Alternative names 1948 PL · 1951 EG2
1954 SA · 1955 YC
1960 WP · 1965 QB
1965 UW · 1973 GG People also search for Sun, 1568 Aisleen, 2718 Handley | ||
1623 Vivian, provisional designation 1948 PL, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 August 1948, by South African astronomer Ernest Johnson at Johannesburg Observatory in South Africa.
Vivian is a C-type asteroid and member of the Themis family, a large family of outer-belt asteroids with nearly coplanar ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,035 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. Vivian's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation, as no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.
In March 2006, a rotational light-curve of Vivian was obtained by American astronomer Lawrence Molnar at the Calvin–Rehoboth Observatory in New Mexico. It gave it a rotation period of 20.5209 hours with a brightness variation of 0.85 magnitude (U=3-). Modeled light-curve data gave a concurring period of 20.5235 hours (U=n.a.).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Vivian measures between 24.77 and 29.98 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.075 and 0.08. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 25.82 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 11.3.
This minor planet was named in honor of Vivian Hirst, daughter of British astronomer William P. Hirst, receiver of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa's Gill Medal and after whom the minor planet 3172 Hirst is named. Hirst calculated the preliminary orbit for this and several other minor planets discovered by Ernest Johnson. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3569).