Discovered by E. Delporte MPC designation 1722 Goffin Discovered 23 February 1938 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 23 February 1938 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Inclination 5.4667° Discoverer Eugène Joseph Delporte | |
Named after Edwin Goffin(amateur astronomer) Alternative names 1938 EG · 1942 DJ1950 HK · 1952 SW1952 UQ · 1960 WB1964 UF · 1964 VD1 Similar 1221 Amor, 2101 Adonis, Sun | ||
1722 Goffin, provisional designation 1938 EG, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 10.3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 February 1938, by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, Belgium.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.4–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 12 months (1,456 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins 6 days after its official discovery observation.
Goffin's first rotational light-curve was obtained by American astronomer Richard P. Binzel at UT Austin in October 1984. It gave a rotation period of 31 hours and an brightness variation of 0.63 magnitude (U=2), while Czech astronomers Petr Pravec and Adrián Galád at Ondřejov Observatory derived a period of 28.8 hours with and amplitude of 0.6 magnitude using Binzel's photmetric observations (U=n.a.).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Goffin measures 10.29 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.224 (using the 2014-published revised near-infrared albedo fits), superseding a preliminary published diameter of 10.446 kilometers. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link takes Petr Pravec's 2012-revised WISE data, that gave an albedo of 0.2175 and a diameter of 10.442 kilometers.
This minor planet was named in honor of the Belgian amateur astronomer Edwin Goffin (b. 1950), who has made extensive computations involving minor-planet orbits, and whose initials are indicated by the body's provisional designation, 1938 EG. Naming citation was published on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6832).