Discovered by P. Shajn MPC designation 1648 Shajna Discovered 5 September 1935 Orbits Sun Discovery site Simeiz Observatory | Discovery date 5 September 1935 Minor planet category main-belt · (inner) Absolute magnitude 12.54 Discoverer Pelageya Shajn Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Couple of astronomers
(Pelageya and Grigory) Alternative names 1935 RF · 1934 CK1
1938 MC · 1941 FD
1948 LC · 1951 EX2
1952 SX · 1952 UW
1955 QT · 1955 RP
A921 GB · A924 EQ People also search for Sun, 1190 Pelagia, 1654 Bojeva | ||
1648 Shajna, provisional designation 1935 RF, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 September 1935, by Russian astronomer Pelageya Shajn at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. Two weeks later, it was independently discovered by Cyril Jackson at Johannesburg Observatory, South Africa.
Shajna orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,221 days). Its well-determined orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. In 1921, Shajna was first identified as 1921 GB at Heidelberg Observatory. Its first used observation was taken at Uccle in 1934, when it was identified as 1934 CK1, extending the body's observation arc by one year prior to its official discovery observation.
In July 2005, a rotational light-curve of was obtained by French amateur astronomer Laurent Bernasconi. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 6.4140 hours with a brightness variation of 0.65 magnitude (U=3). Two modeled light-curves from various surveys including the Lowell photometric database gave similar periods of 6.41368 and 6.41369 hours (U=n.a.). Photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory in September 2012, gave nearly identical periods of 6.4140 and 6.4248 hours in the R- and S-band, respectively (U=2/2).
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Shajna measures between 8.26 and 9.45 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.191 and 0.35. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 9.23 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.54.
This minor planet was named in honor of the late couple of Russian astronomers Grigory Shajn (1892–1956) and the discoverer herself, Pelageya Shajn (1894–1956), first woman ever to discover a minor planet. The asteroid 1190 Pelagia is also named after her, while her husband is honored by the lunar crater Shayn. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 2117).