Discovered by E. Delporte MPC designation 1672 Gezelle Discovered 29 January 1935 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 29 January 1935 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Absolute magnitude 11.1 Discoverer Eugène Joseph Delporte | |
Alternative names 1935 BD · 1929 AA1933 SE1 · 1939 VK1950 SX · 1978 NA8A924 EO Similar 1221 Amor, 2101 Adonis, Sun | ||
1672 Gezelle, provisional designation 1935 BD, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 27 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 29 January 1935, by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte at Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, Belgium.
The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–4.0 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,064 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.28 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic. Gezelle's first identification as A924 EO at Heidelberg Observatory remained unused. Its observation arc begins 9 days after its official discovery observation.
Astronomer James Brinsfield obtained a rotational light-curve of Gezelle at the Via Capote Observatory (G69) in October 2008. It gave a well defined rotation period of 40.72 hours with a brightness variation of 0.56 magnitude (U=3). In 2016, similar periods of 40.6821 and 40.6824 hours were obtained from modeled photometric observations derived from the Lowell Photometric Database and other sources (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, Gezelle measures between 26.21 and 26.56 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.055 and 0.093. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 27.90 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.5.
This minor planet was named in memory of famous Flemish poet and Roman Catholic priest Guido Gezelle (1830–1899), who wrote extensively on religion and nature. Naming citation was published on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6832).