Discovered by S. Arend Discovery date 8 January 1954 Discovered 8 January 1954 | Discovery site Uccle Obs. Orbits Sun Moon S/2006 (1717) 1 | |
Alternative names 1954 AC · 1930 YU1941 BJ · 1946 UB1951 GQ · 1954 CE1977 FQ3 · 1978 PC5A915 CC Similar 1338 Duponta, Asteroid belt, 1089 Tama, 1333 Cevenola, 702 Alauda | ||
1717 Arlon, provisional designation 1954 AC, is a binary Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 January 1954, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, Belgium.
Arlon is a member of the Flora family, a collisional group of S-type asteroids asteroids, and one of the largest populations of the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,188 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. First identified as A915 CC at Simeiz Observatory in 1915, Arlon's first used observation was taken at Lowell Observatory in 1930, when it was identified as 1930 YU, extending the body's observation arc by 24 years prior to its official discovery observation.
A large number of rotational light-curves of Arlon were obtained from photometric observations, giving a well-defined rotation period between 5.1477 and 5.1496 hours with a small brightness variation of 0.10 magnitude or less (also see infobox). During one of these photometric observations in 2006, the binary nature of Arlon was revealed. The discovered asteroid moon orbits its primary once every 18.2 hours, at a distance of 16 kilometers. The moon itself measures approximately 4 kilometers in diameter.
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Arlon measures between 8.48 and 9.15 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.167 and 0.315. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the revised WISE-results by Pravec, adopting an albedo of 0.225 and a diameter of 9.15 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.43.
This minor planet is named for the Belgian town, municipality and provincial capital, Arlon. It is situated on a hill above the headwaters of the Semoise. The Orolaunum of the Romans was a station on the Antoninian way connecting Reims and Trier. Naming citation was published on 22 September 1983 (M.P.C. 8150).