Discovered by T. Smirnova MPC designation 2093 Genichesk Discovered 28 April 1971 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 28 April 1971 Orbits Sun | |
Alternative names 1971 HX · 1974 CN11975 VG2 Similar Asteroid belt, Sun, 298 Baptistina, 12999 Toruń | ||
2093 Genichesk, provisional designation 1971 HX, is a Baptistina asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 April 1971, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.
The asteroid is a member of the Baptistina family. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,249 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Palomar Mountain in 1950, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 21 years prior to its discovery.
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous C-type asteroids of 0.57 and calculates a diameter of 12.29 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 13.28, while according to preliminary data from the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid's surface has a much higher albedo of 0.158 and only measures 8.8 kilometers in diameter.
Photometric observations by astronomer Brian D. Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado (also see video § External links) during the winter of 2007–2008 were used to build a light-curve, which gave a rotation period of 7001110280000000000♠11.028±0.006 hours and a brightness variation of 6999240000000000000♠0.24±0.02 in magnitude (U=3). The results concur with observations made by French amateur astronomers Stéphane Charbonnel and Laurent Bernasconi, and with analysed data from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey in 2004 and 2015, respectively (U=2/2).
The asteroid was named after the Ukrainian town Genichesk (Henichesk), the discoverer's birthplace in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Naming citation was published on 1 April 1980 (M.P.C. 5282).