Discovered by E. Roemer MPC designation 1983 Bok Discovered 9 June 1975 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 9 June 1975 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Orbits Sun | |
Alternative names 1975 LB · 1950 RV1963 UJ Similar 1930 Lucifer, Asteroid belt, Themisto, Sun | ||
1983 Bok, provisional designation 1975 LB, is a dark asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 June 1975, by American astronomer Elizabeth Roemer at the Catalina Station of the UA's Steward Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.
The presumed C-type asteroid is also classified as a S-type, despite its low albedo of less than 0.1. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.4–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,551 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. The first observation was taken at the Argentinian La Plata Astronomical Observatory in 1950, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 25 years prior to its discovery.
In October 2014, the first rotational light-curve for this body was obtained by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battitsa Casalnuovo at the Eurac Observatory (IAU code#C62) in Bolzano, Italy. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 7001107000000000000♠10.70±0.01 hours with a relatively high brightness variation of 0.46 in magnitude (U=3-). The Italian astronomer also calculated an albedo of 0.06 for its surface and a diameter of 7001150000000000000♠15±3 kilometers, in agreement with the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer which gave a diameter of 15.7 kilometers and an albedo of 0.034. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10 and consequently calculates a much smaller diameter of 10.08 kilometers.
The minor planet was named after the Duch-born astronomer couple Bart Bok (1906–1983) and Priscilla Fairfield Bok (1896–1975), in recognition for their contribution to astrometry of small Solar System bodies. Both astronomers studied the structure of the southern Milky Way and fostered astronomy in the Southern Hemisphere. This asteroid was the first numbered discovery made with the Stewart Observatory's 90-inch Bok Telescope. The body's name was proposed by the discovering astronomer and by Alan C. Gilmore from New Zealand. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4158).