Discovered by G. Kulin MPC designation 1710 Gothard Minor planet category main-belt · (inner) Absolute magnitude 13.3 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 20 October 1941 Alternative names 1941 UF · 1955 TT Discovered 20 October 1941 Orbits Sun | |
Named after Jenő Gothard(amateur astronomer) People also search for Sun, 1546 Izsák, 2712 Keaton | ||
1710 Gothard, provisional designation 1941 UF, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 October 1941, by Hungarian astronomer György Kulin at the Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,291 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.27 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic. Gothard's observation arc begins 14 years after its official discovery observation, when it was identified as 1955 TT at Uccle Observatory in 1955.
In October 2001 and October 2008, two rotational light-curves of Gothard were obtained by French amateur astronomers Laurent Bernasconi and René Roy, giving a concurring rotation period of 4.94 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 and 0.32 in magnitude, respectively (U=3/3-).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Gothard measures 9.84 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.087, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 5.66 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.6.
The asteroid was named in memory of Hungarian amateur astronomer Jenő Gothard (1857–1909), who discovered the central star in the Ring Nebula (M57). Naming citation was published on 1 February 1980 (M.P.C. 5183).