Discovered by R. Carrasco MPC designation 1644 Rafita Discovered 16 December 1935 | Discovery date 16 December 1935 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Orbits Sun Discoverer Rafael Carrasco | |
Named after Rafael Carrasco(discoverer's son) Alternative names 1935 YA · 1939 XA1941 JB · 1949 JC1951 VF · 1955 TS1957 GD · 1959 UDA906 RB · A916 BA Discovery site Royal Observatory of Madrid, Spanish National Observatory Similar Asteroid belt, 808 Merxia, 170 Maria, 135 Hertha, 128 Nemesis | ||
1644 Rafita, provisional designation 1935 YA, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 December 1935, by Spanish astronomer Rafael Carrasco Garrorena at the Royal Observatorio Astronómico de Madrid in Spain.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.2–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,486 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. Rafita was first observed as A906 RB at Heidelberg Observatory in 1906, extending the body's observation arc by 29 years prior to its official discovery observation.
Rafita's first rotational light-curve was obtained by American astronomer Alan Harris of JPL in January 1981. It gave a rotation period of 5.100 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 magnitude (U=2). Photometric observations by French amateur astronomer Laurent Bernasconi in December 2004, gave a period of 6.800 hours and an amplitude of 0.13 magnitude (U=2).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Rafita measures between 13.96 and 17.69 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.106 and 0.164. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with Petr Pravec's revised WISE-results, that is an albedo of 0.1329 and a diameter of 15.482 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 11.86.
This minor planet was named by the discoverer in honor of his late son, Rafael Carrasco. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 2277).