Discovered by T. Smirnova MPC designation 1791 Patsayev Observation arc 84.67 yr (30,927 days) Absolute magnitude 11.8 | Discovery date 4 September 1967 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Discovered 4 September 1967 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1967 RE · 1931 TW31943 GS · 1943 GZ1948 JO · 1948 KA1957 JG · 1957 KS1958 RC Discovery site | ||
1791 Patsayev, provisional designation 1967 RE, is a presumably carbonaceous asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 26 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 September 1967, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.
The dark C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.4–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,663 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. Patsayev was first identified as 1931 TW3 at Lowell Observatory in 1931, extending the body's observation arc by 36 years prior to its official discovery observation.
In April 2016, a rotational light-curve of Patsayev was obtained from photometric observations taken by Sydney Black at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory in Coonabarabran, Australia. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 19.809 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28 in magnitude (U=3).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Patsayev measures between 29.39 and 31.50 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a high albedo between 0.030 and 0.039. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) disagrees with the results found by WISE. CALL derives a much lower carbonaceous albedo of 0.046, and calculates a diameter of 25.69 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.9.
The minor planet was named in honor of Russian–Soviet cosmonaut Viktor Patsayev (1933–1971), test Engineer of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft, who died on his first spaceflight on 30 June 1971 during the vehicle's return to Earth after completing the flight program of the first manned orbital station, Salyut. The lunar crater Patsaev is also named after him. The precedingly numbered minor planets 1789 Dobrovolsky and 1790 Volkov were named in honour of his dead crew members. The names of all three cosmonauts are also engraved on the plaque next to the sculpture of the Fallen Astronaut on the Moon, which was placed there during the Apollo 15 mission, containing the names of eight American astronauts and six Soviet cosmonauts, who had all died in service. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3296).