Discovery date 25 July 1952 Minor planet category main-belt · Themis Discovered 25 July 1952 Asteroid family Themis family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | MPC designation 1788 Kiess Observation arc 63.87 yr (23,329 days) Orbits Sun Discovery site Goethe Link Observatory Discoverer Indiana Asteroid Program | |
Discovered by Indiana University
(Indiana Asteroid Program) Alternative names 1952 OZ · 1935 NE
1964 WP Named after Carl Clarence Kiess (astronomer) | ||
1788 Kiess, provisional designation 1952 OZ, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 July 1952, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at the U.S. Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.
The C-type asteroid is a member of the Themis family, a dynamical family of outer-belt asteroids with nearly coplanar ecliptical orbits. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,012 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.of 2.6–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,012 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic. Kiess was first identified as 1935 NE at Algiers Observatory in 1935. Its observation arc begins with its official discovery observation.
In 2010, two rotational light-curves were obtained from photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. They gave a rotation period of 12 and 11.0335 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 and 0.30 magnitude, respectively (U=2-/2).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Kiess measures 20.99 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.07. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 19.59 kilometers.
The minor planet was named for American astronomer Carl C. Kiess (1887–1967), a graduate of Indiana University, who made distinguished contributions both in astronomy and spectroscopy at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards where he worked for over 40 years. He was a member of several eclipse expeditions. The lunar crater Kiess was also named in his honour. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3508).