Discovered by M. Laugier MPC designation 1681 Steinmetz Discovered 23 November 1948 | Discovery date 23 November 1948 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Julius Steinmetz(amateur astronomer) Alternative names 1948 WE · 1926 YA1936 BE · 1939 VC1945 ED · 1957 YH1958 AE · A914 DB People also search for Sun, 2393 Suzuki, 2384 Schulhof | ||
1681 Steinmetz, provisional designation 1948 WE, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 November 1948, by French astronomer Marguerite Laugier at Nice Observatory in south-eastern France.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,618 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. Steinmetz was first identified as A914 DB at Heidelberg Observatory in 1914, extending the body's observation arc by 34 years prior to its official discovery observation.
In December 2006, Italian amateur astronomer Silvano Casulli obtained a rotational light-curve of Steinmetz from photometric observations. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 8.99917 hours with a brightness variation of 0.42 magnitude (U=3).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Steinmetz measures 14.58 and 16.16 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.204 and 0.161, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10 and calculates a diameter of 20.49 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.56.
According to a proposal by Otto Kippes, who verified the discovery, it was named after Julius Steinmetz (1893–1965), a German amateur astronomer, orbit computer, and pastor from Gerolfingen in Bavaria. Naming citation was published on 1 October 1980 (M.P.C. 5523).