Discovery date 7 September 1962 Discovered 7 September 1962 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | MPC designation 1766 Slipher Absolute magnitude 12.2 | |
Alternative names 1962 RF · 1953 UR1980 RH5 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Lydia family Spectral type C-type asteroid (Asteroid spectral types) | ||
1766 slipher
1766 Slipher, provisional designation 1962 RF, is a dark, 20-kilometer sized Lydia asteroid dwelling in the outer parts of the main-belt. It was discovered at the U.S. Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana by the Indiana Asteroid Program on September 7, 1962. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.5–3.0 AU once every 4.56 years (1,664 days).
The C-type body with an assumed albedo of about 0.06 belongs to the same asteroid family as 363 Padua does, namely the Lydia family, as it shares similar dynamic properties. In 2015, its rotation period was determined in both, the S and R band, using data from the Palomar Transient Factory survey. The fitted periods gave 7000767730000000000♠7.6773±0.0145 hours in the S Band and 7000769260000000000♠7.6926±0.0024 hours in the R Band, with an amplitude of 0.20 and 0.19 in magnitude, respectively.
It is named after the brothers Vesto Slipher (1876–1969) and Earl C. Slipher (1883–1964), both graduates of Indiana University. Slipher was a pioneer investigator of the spectra of the planets, and was the first to measure the redshifts of galaxies, which was instrumental for Hubble's discovery of the expanding Universe. Earl. Slipher developed and improved the direct photography of the planets. His photographs are the only continuous and systematic record of the appearance of the planets for a period of more than half a century.