Discovered by C. U. Cesco MPC designation 1958 Chandra Observation arc 62.09 yr (22,680 days) Discovered 24 September 1970 Orbits Sun | Discovery date 24 September 1970 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Orbital period 1,998 days Aphelion 3.62 m Discoverer Carlos Ulrrico Cesco | |
Alternative names 1970 SB · 1947 HD
1959 RG1 · 1965 UN
1971 XA Named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Discovery site Carlos U. Cesco Astronomical Station | ||
1958 Chandra, provisional designation 1970 SB, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1970, by Argentinian astronomer Carlos Cesco at the Yale–Columbia Southern Station of the Leoncito Astronomical Complex in San Juan, Argentina (also see Félix Aguilar Observatory).
The dark C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (1,996 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 16 years prior to its discovery.
In December 2010, a rotational light-curve was obtained for this asteroid from photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory, California. It gave a rotation period of 7000705710000000000♠7.0571±0.0029 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 in magnitude (U=2). A second light-curve, obtained by Italian amateur astronomer Silvano Casulli in August 2014, gave a concurring period of 7000707000000000000♠7.070±0.004 hours with an amplitude of 0.38 in magnitude (U=3-).
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 36.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.07, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.05 and a diameter of 33.8 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 11.2.
The asteroid was named in honor of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995), the Nobel Prize winning Indian–American theoretical astrophysicist (also see Chandrasekhar limit). Naming citation was published on 1 November 1979 (M.P.C. 5013).