Discovered by P. Wild MPC designation 1687 Glarona Discovered 19 September 1965 Discoverer Paul Wild Discovery site Zimmerwald Observatory | Discovery date 19 September 1965 Minor planet category main-belt · Themis Orbits Sun Asteroid family Themis family | |
Alternative names 1965 SC · 1926 UA
1931 RB1 · 1942 PD
1945 EA · 1948 QN
1948 RD1 · 1954 TB
1954 UB2 · 1959 PG
1960 XD · 1965 UX
A909 UA · A915 XC Observation arc 107.07 yr (39,107 days) Named after Canton of Glarus (Cantons of Switzerland) Similar Sun, 3552 Don Quixote, 81P/Wild | ||
1687 Glarona, provisional designation 1965 SC, is a stony Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 34 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland, on 19 September 1965.
The asteroid is a member of the Themis family, one of the larger groups in the outer main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,050 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Heidelberg Observatory in 1909, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 56 years prior to its discovery.
A rotational light-curve obtained in the 1970s gave a well-defined rotation period of 6.3 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.75 in magnitude (U=3). In March 2016, a second period was published based on data from the Lowell Photometric Database (LPD). Using light-curve inversion and convex shape models, as well as distributed computing power and the help of individual volunteers, a period of 7000649595000000000♠6.49595±0.00001 hours could be obtained for this asteroid from the LPD's sparse-in-time photometry data (U=n.a.).
According to the space-based 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, the asteroid measures between 31.5 and 42.0 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo in the range of 0.0795 to 0.141. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link gives preference to the results obtained by IRAS with an albedo of 0.1219 and a diameter of 33.93 kilometers. CALL also classifies the Themistian asteroid as a stony S-class body, which are otherwise known to have low albedos, showing spectra of carbonaceous C-type bodies (also see Carbonaceous chondrites).
The minor planet was named for of the discoverer's home valley, the Swiss Canton of Glarus and its capital Glarus. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 2971). Paul Wild (1925–2014) was a prolific discoverer almost 100 asteroids, and is well known for his discovery of comet Wild 2, which was visited by NASA's Stardust mission.