Discovered by L. Kohoutek MPC designation 1840 Hus Observation arc 85.08 yr (31,076 days) Orbits Sun Discovery site Hamburg Observatory | Discovery date 26 October 1971 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Discovered 26 October 1971 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1971 UY · 1931 TS31935 NC · 1953 CG Similar 218 Bianca, 216 Kleopatra, Sun, Comet Kohoutek, 1865 Cerberus | ||
1840 Hus, provisional designation 1971 UY, is an asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 26 October 1971, by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek at Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany.
Hus orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.9–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 12 months (1,820 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.02 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. The first observation of Hus is a precovery taken at Lowell Observatory in 1931. Its first used observation was another precovery taken at Goethe Link Observatory in 1953, extending the body's observation arc by 18 years prior to its official discovery observation. At both these observatories, the asteroid was also identified as 1931 TS3 and 1953 CG, respectively.
In June 2006, a rotational light-curve of Hus was obtained from photometric observations taken at Chiro Observatory in Western Australia. It gave a rotation period of 4.780 hours with a brightness variation of 0.85 magnitude (U=2-). A second light-curve was published in March 2016, gave a similar period of 4.749 hours, using sparse-in-time photometry data from the Lowell Photometric Database (U=n.a.).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Hus measures 12.4 and 12.6 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.261 and 0.255, respectively. However, the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057, rather than one for a stony body, as indicated by WISE/NEOWISE. CALL therefor calculates a twice as large diameter of 25.4 kilometers, as the lower the albedo, the larger the body's diameter at a constant absolute magnitude.
It is named after Czech Jan Hus (1372–1415), a fifteenth century Bohemian theologian, rector of Charles University in Prague and forerunner of the protestant reformation. He was condemned to death by the Council of Constance and burned at the stake for his reformation ideas. Jan Hus is also known as John Huss in the English speaking world.Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3757).