Discovered by T. Smirnova MPC designation 1854 Skvortsov Discovered 22 October 1968 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 22 October 1968 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Absolute magnitude 12.3 | |
Named after Evgenii Skvortsov (astronomer) Alternative names 1968 UE1 · 1962 HC1964 VC · 1964 XB Discovery site | ||
1854 Skvortsov, provisional designation 1968 UE1, is a stony asteroid and relatively slow rotator from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 October 1968, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on the Crimean peninsula.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.2–2.9 AU once every 4.04 years (1,477 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. Skvortsov was first observed at Goethe Link Observatory in 1962, when it was identified as 1962 HC, extending the body's observation arc by 6 years prior to its official discovery observation.
In March 2006, a rotational light-curve for Skvortsov was obtained from photometric observations made by American astronomer Brian D. Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado. It gave a rotation period of 78.5 hours with a brightness variation of 0.56 magnitude (U=2). This is a rather slow rotation rate compared to the average asteroid spin of 2–20 hours.
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Skvortsov measures between 9.60 and 10.27 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.203 to 0.252. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 8.97 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.6.
This minor planet was named in honor of Evgenii Skvortsov (1882–1952), an instructor of astronomy in the Simferopol Pedagogical Institute, an active observer of minor planets at the Crimean Simeiz Observatory, and the discoverer of several minor planets, including 1149 Volga, 1167 Dubiago and 1381 Danubia. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3825).