Discovery date 14 September 1963 Minor planet category main-belt · Hilda Absolute magnitude 9.95 Discovery site Goethe Link Observatory Discoverer Indiana Asteroid Program | MPC designation 1746 Brouwer Discovered 14 September 1963 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Hilda family | |
Discovered by Indiana University
(Indiana Asteroid Program) Named after Dirk Brouwer
(astronomer) Alternative names 1963 RF · 1940 WE
1947 QA | ||
1746 Brouwer, provisional designation 1963 RF, is a Hildian asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 64 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 14 September 1963, by IU's Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.
The dark and reddish D-type asteroid is a member of the Hilda family, a large group that orbits in resonance with the gas giant Jupiter and are thought to originate from the Kuiper belt. Brouwer orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.1–4.8 AU once every 7 years and 10 months (2,865 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as 1940 WE at Turku Observatory in 1940, extending the body's observation arc by 23 years prior to its official discovery observation.
Brouwer has a rotation period between 19.72 and 19.88 hours with a brightness variation of 0.21 and 0.35 magnitude (U=n.a/2/n.a.). 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, Brouwer measures between 61.50 and 64.25 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.045 and 0.051. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with IRAS, that is an albedo of 0.045 and a diameter of 64.25 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.95.
This minor planet was named in honor of Dutch–American astronomer Dirk Brouwer (1902–1966). Originally at Leiden University and specialized in celestial mechanics, he became director of the Yale University Observatory and was the president of IAU's commission 20, Positions & Motions of Minor Planets, Comets & Satellites, from 1948 to 1955. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 2883).