Discovered by P. Wild MPC designation 1961 Dufour Discovered 19 November 1973 Orbits Sun Discovery site Zimmerwald Observatory | Discovery date 19 November 1973 Minor planet category main-belt · (outer) Absolute magnitude 10.6 Discoverer Paul Wild Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Henri Dufour
(Swiss General) Alternative names 1973 WA · 1927 UM
1952 BQ1 · 1962 YG
1969 AH · 1973 SY3 Similar Sun, 3552 Don Quixote, 81P/Wild | ||
1961 Dufour, provisional designation 1973 WA, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 50 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 November 1973, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland.
The dark C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,083 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used observation was made at the U.S. McDonald Observatory in 1952, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 21 years prior to its discovery.
French amateur astronomer Pierre Antonini obtained a light-curve for this asteroid from photometric observations taken during April 2010. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7001157900000000000♠15.79±0.01 hours with an amplitude of 0.31 in magnitude (U=3-). In August 2013, photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory, California, gave a similar period of 7001157583000000000♠15.7583±0.0309 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 (U=2).
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and the Japanese Akari satellite, the asteroid measures 50.3 and 51.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.040 and 0.039, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.034 and a diameter of 50.3 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 10.8.
The minor planet is named after Swiss General Henri Dufour (1787–1875), who lead the Swiss forces to victory against the renegade catholic cantons in the Sonderbund War of November 1847, which claimed fewer than a hundred lives. He was also a co-founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross, founder of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography and architect of the first complete geodetic survey of Switzerland. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4157). The "Dufourspitze", the Alp's second-highest mountain after the Mont Blanc, was also named in his honour.