Discovered by L. Chernykh MPC designation 1956 Artek Minor planet category main-belt · Themis Absolute magnitude 11.9 Discoverer Lyudmila Chernykh Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 8 October 1969 Alternative names 1969 TX1 · 1975 TA6 Discovered 8 October 1969 Orbits Sun Asteroid family Themis family | |
Named after Artek (Арте́к)
(Young Pioneer camp) Discovery site Crimean Astrophysical Observatory | ||
1956 Artek, provisional designation 1969 TX1, is a dark Themistian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on October 8, 1969, by Soviet–Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj.
The dark 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 2.9–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,094 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Goethe Link Observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 15 years prior to its discovery.
A rotational light-curve was obtained from photometric observations made by Italian astronomers Roberto Crippa and Federico Manzini in February 2006. The fragmentary light-curve gave a rotation period of 7000940000000000000♠9.4±0.2 hours with a low brightness variation of 0.07 in magnitude (U=1+)
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 18.0 and 19.2 kilometers in diameter with a corresponding albedo of 0.099 of 0.074, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 18.7 kilometers.
The minor planet was named after the Soviet Artek (Арте́к) camp, the first All-Union Young Pioneer camp on the Crimean peninsula. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4190).