Discovered by K. Reinmuth Discovery date 11 October 1937 Orbits Sun Discoverer Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth | Discovery site Heidelberg Obs. MPC designation 1650 Heckmann Discovered 11 October 1937 | |
Alternative names 1937 TG · 1929 SK1940 NB · 1941 UA11943 DG · 1944 OC1947 FA · 1951 GX1952 SL1 · 1963 PBA906 OC · A909 DF Similar 1862 Apollo, Sun, 1419 Danzig, 1056 Azalea, 1111 Reinmuthia | ||
1650 Heckmann, provisional designation 1937 TG, is a rare-type Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 11 October 1937, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.
Heckmann is a member of the Polanian subgroup of the Nysa family of asteroids and shows a rare F-type spectrum in the Tholen classification scheme. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,388 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. Heckmann was first identified as A906 OC at the discovering observatory in 1906. Its first used observation was taken at Heidelberg in 1909, when it was identified as A909 DF, extending the body's observation arc by 28 years prior to its official discovery observation.
French amateur astronomer René Roy obtained the first rotational light-curve of Heckmann in September 2005. It gave a rotation period of 12.05 hours with a brightness variation of 0.06 in magnitude (U=2). A more refined light-curve with a period of 14.893 hours and an amplitude of 0.16 magnitude was obtained by Australian amateur astronomer David Higgins at the Hunters Hill Observatory and collaborating stations in March 2008 (U=3). In September 2013, photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory, California, gave a low rated light-curve with a similar period of 14.9042 hours (Δ 0.09 mag; U=1).
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Heckmann measures between 24.93 and 35.15 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.034 and 0.06. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the results obtained by IRAS, that is an albedo of 0.0497 and a diameter of 29.07 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 11.56.
This minor planet was named in honor of German astronomer Otto Heckmann (1901–1983), director of the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, president of the International Astronomical Union (1967–1970) and the first director of ESO, the European Southern Observatory, which foundation had been initiated by him. He was active in the fields of cosmology and several aspects of fundamental astronomy. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3932).