Discovered by L. Kohoutek MPC designation 1841 Masaryk Observation arc 80.64 yr (29,453 days) Orbits Sun Discovery site Hamburg Observatory | Discovery date 26 October 1971 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Discovered 26 October 1971 Discoverer Luboš Kohoutek Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1971 UO1 · 1936 FW
1955 DE · 1959 VJ
1968 FG · 1970 QN Named after Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (Czechoslovak President) Similar Sun, Comet Kohoutek, 1865 Cerberus | ||
1841 Masaryk, provisional designation 1971 UO1, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 46 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 26 October 1971, by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek at Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.1–3.8 AU once every 6 years and 4 months (2,312 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. First identified as 1936 FW at Uccle Observatory, Masaryk's first used observation was taken at Goethe Link Observatory in 1955, extending the body's observation arc by 16 years prior to its official discovery observation.
In April 2006, a rotational light-curve of Masaryk was obtained from photometric observations made by French amateur astronomer Pierre Antonini. It gave a rotation period of 7.53 hours with a brightness variation of 0.52 magnitude (U=2+). The result agrees with a light-curve published in March 2016, using sparse-in-time photometry data from the Lowell Photometric Database (U=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, Masaryk measures between 38.6 and 46.1 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.039 and 0.057. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.036 and a diameter of 46.0 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.9. The carbonaceous asteroid is also classified as a (darker) P-type and as a transitional CX-type by NEOWISE and PanSTARRS, respectively.
Masaryk was named in honor of the first president of the independent Czechoslovak Republic, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), statesman, philosopher and known for his humanistic ideas. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3757).