Discovered by A. R. Klemola MPC designation 2014 Vasilevskis Orbits Sun | Discovery date 2 May 1973 Alternative names 1973 JA Discovered 2 May 1973 Discoverer Arnold Richard Klemola Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Stanislavs Vasilevskis(astronomer) Similar Sun, NGC 4921, Solar System, Asteroid belt, Engraved Hourglass Nebula | ||
2014 Vasilevskis, provisional designation 1973 JA, is a stony Phocaean asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 May 1973, by American astronomer Arnold Klemola at the U.S. Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, California.
The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family, a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics, named after the family's namesake, 25 Phocaea. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,359 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.29 and an inclination of 21° with respect to the ecliptic. No precoveries were taken prior to its discovery.
In May 2014, a photometric light-curve analysis by Robert Stevens at the U.S. Center for Solar System Studies (CS3), California, rendered a rotation period of 7001321599999999999♠32.16±0.02 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.26 in magnitude (U=3-). Alternative measurements also made in 2014, include an observation by astronomer René Roy, which rendered a period of 7001390000000000000♠39±2 hours with an amplitude of 0.31 in magnitude (U=2), and an analysis at the U.S. Burleith Observatory in Washington DC, with a period of 7001156000000000000♠15.6±0.1 hours, or 49% of the first period (U=2-).
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 11.8 and 9.1 kilometers with a surface albedo of 0.265 and 0.451, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo 0.23 – derived from 25 Phocaea, the principal body of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 9.6 kilometers.
The minor planet was named after astronomer Stanislavs Vasilevskis (d. 1988), long-time staff member at the discovering Lick Observatory from 1949 to 1974. A specialist for astrometric instrumentation, in particular the computational analysis of the position of astronomical objects from photographic plates, he has also performed broad astronomical surveys to obtain the parallax and proper motion of stars. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4190).