Discovered by S. Arend MPC designation 1625 The NORC Discovered 1 September 1953 Orbits Sun Discoverer Sylvain Arend | Discovery date 1 September 1953 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Inclination 15.553° Spectral type C-type asteroid Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after The IBM NORC
(Naval Ordnance Research Calculator) Alternative names 1953 RB · 1929 CA
1935 EN · 1936 QS
1942 RK · 1947 NG
1953 QK · 1954 UL1
A914 SA Discovery site Royal Observatory of Belgium | ||
1625 The NORC, provisional designation 1953 RB, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 55 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 1 September 1953, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, Belgium.
The NORC is a C-type asteroid. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.5–3.9 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,083 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 16° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid was first identified as A914 SA at Heidelberg Observatory in 1914. Its observation arc begins 24 years prior to its official discovery observation, when it was identified as 1929 CA at Uccle.
Between 2009 and 2014, five rotational light-curve were obtained of The NORC from photometric observations taken by René Roy, David Higgins and the Palomar Transient Factory. The light-curves gave a rotation period between 12.94 and 18.820 hours with a change in brightness of 0.06 to 0.33 in magnitude (U=+1/2/3-). The best rated result with a period of 13.959 hours (Δmag 0.16) was obtained by Australian amateur astronomer David Higgins.
According to the surveys carried out by Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, The NORC measures between 44.66 and 75.11 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.023 and 0.065. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 47.60 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 10.34.
It was named after NORC, IBM's first-generation vacuum tube computer built in the 1950s (also see List of vacuum tube computers and § External links). NORC, or Naval Ordnance Research Calculator, was the fastest, most powerful electronic computer of its time. Under the direction of Wallace J. Eckert, after whom the asteroid 1750 Eckert is named, NORC performed a vast amount of orbital calculations for minor planet. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 1591).