Discovered by C. Kowal MPC designation 1939 Loretta Discovered 17 October 1974 Discoverer Charles T. Kowal Discovery site Palomar Observatory | Discovery date 17 October 1974 Minor planet category main-belt · Themistian Orbits Sun Asteroid family Themis family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Loretta Kowal
(daughter of discoverer) Alternative names 1974 UC · 1934 JE
1934 LQ · 1939 EH
1939 GP · 1950 DT
1950 ES · 1951 MF
1955 CA · 1969 TE5
1975 TZ5 · 1975 XW People also search for 1981 Midas, Leda, Sun, 3163 Randi | ||
1939 Loretta, provisional designation 1974 UC, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 October 1974, by American astronomer Charles T. Kowal at Palomar Observatory in California, 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. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,017 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic. First identified as 1934 JE at the South African Johannesburg Observatory, Loretta's first used observation was made at the Finnish Turku Observatory in 1939, extending the body's observation arc by 35 years prior to its discovery.
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Loretta measures between 26.3 and 30.4 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.092 and 0.101. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.072 and a diameter of 29.8 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.1.
A fragmentary rotational light-curve of Loretta was obtained from photometric observations made by French amateur astronomer Pierre Antonini in March 2011. It gave an approxmiate rotation period of 25 hours with a brightness variation of 0.12 magnitude (U=1).
The minor planet was named by the discoverer after his daughter, Loretta Kowal. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3828).