Discovered by L. Chernykh MPC designation 1737 Severny Discovered 13 October 1966 Orbits Sun | Discovery date 13 October 1966 Absolute magnitude 10.8 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Andrei Severny(observatory's director) Alternative names 1966 TJ · 1942 CA1944 OF · 1950 TM1950 TP4 · 1951 YF21963 DH Discovery site | ||
1737 Severny, provisional designation 1966 TJ, is a stony Eoan asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 October 1966, by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Eos family. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.9–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 3 months (1,908 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. First identified as 1942 CA at Turku, the asteroid's first used observation was made at Heidelberg Observatory in 1950, extending Severny's observation arc by 16 years prior to its official discovery observation.
A rotational light-curve of Severny was obtained by French amateur astronomer Laurent Bernasconi in March 2005. It gave a rotation period of 14.11 hours with a brightness variation of 0.14 magnitude (U=2). In September 2013, photometric observations in the R-band at the Palomar Transient Factory, California, gave a shorter period of 9.2481 hours with an amplitude of 0.17 magnitude (U=2).
According to the 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, Severny measures between 21.33 and 24.83 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.136 and 0.181. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for Eoan asteroids of 0.14 and calculates a diameter of 21.40 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.1.
This minor planet was named by the discoverer in honor of Soviet astronomer Andrei Severny (1913–1987), who was the Director of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and known for his work on solar flares and astronomical observations from artificial satellites. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 2971).