Discovered by C. A. Wirtanen MPC designation 2044 Wirt Minor planet category Mars-crosser · Phocaea Absolute magnitude 13.3 Discoverer Carl A. Wirtanen Asteroid group Mars-crosser asteroid | Discovery date 8 November 1950 Alternative names 1950 VE Discovered 8 November 1950 Orbits Sun Discovery site Lick Observatory | |
Named after Carl Wirtanen
(discoverer himself) Carl A. Wirtanen discoveries 1685 Toro, (29075) 1950 DA, 46P/Wirtanen | ||
2044 Wirt, provisional designation 1950 VE, is a binary Phocaea asteroid classified as a Mars-crosser, approximately 6.7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 November 1950, by American astronomer Carl Wirtanen at Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, California.
Classified by the MPC and JPL's SBDB as Mars-crosser, it is also listed as a stony Phocaea asteroid of the inner main-belt by the LCDB. orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–3.2 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,342 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.34 and an inclination of 24° with respect to the ecliptic. Wirt's observation arc begins two weeks after its official discovery with the first recorded observation at Lick Observatory on 22 November 1950.
Between 2005 and 2010, several rotational light-curve were obtained for this asteroid from photometric observations taken by astronomers Donald P. Pray, Petr Pravec, Peter Kušnirák, Walter R. Cooney Jr., Rui Goncalves and Raoul Behrend, as well as at the Palomar Transient Factory. The light-curves gave a well-defined rotation period between 3.689 and 3.690 hours with a brightness variation between 0.12 and 0.26 magnitude (U=n.a./3/3/3/3/2). During the photometric observations in December 2005, a 1.89-kilometer sized satellite orbiting Wirt was discovered. The binary asteroid has diameter ratio of 0.25, and the moon's orbital period is 18.97 hours.
According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the asteroid measures 6.66 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.19, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23 and calculates a diameter of 6.65 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 13.1.
It was named after American astronomer Carl Wirtanen (1910–1990), a discoverer of minor planets and comets, who was a long-time contributor of astrometric observations at Lick Observatory. He is well known for several surveys conducted at Lick Observatory such as the Lick proper motion program with respect to galaxies and the Shane-Wirtanen survey. Naming citation was published on 1 January 1981 (M.P.C. 5688).2044 Wirt is one of the rare cases where the asteroid had been named after its discoverer.