Discovered by N. Chernykh Absolute magnitude 11.5 | Discovery date 22 September 1973 Discovered 22 September 1973 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1973 SL2 · 1934 PB1936 AE · 1942 EV1951 AQ1 · 1954 UL1956 AJ · 1956 CE1964 VZ · 1975 AR1977 JB1 · 1978 SO People also search for 2122 Pyatiletka, 2115 Irakli | ||
2123 Vltava, provisional designation 1973 SL2, is a stony Koronis asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 September 1973, by Soviet–Russian astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory on the Crimean peninsula in Nauchnyj.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Koronis family, which is named after 158 Koronis and consists of about 300 known bodies with nearly co-planar ecliptical orbits. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 10 months (1,766 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic. Due to a precovery taken at Heidelberg Observatory in 1934, the asteroid's observation arc is extended by 39 years prior to its discovery.
Between 1998 and 2005, a survey by seven different observatories obtained a large number of rotational light-curves from members of the Koronis family. For this asteroid, the survey gave an ambiguous rotation period of 34.0 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.21 in magnitude (U=2). In 2014, photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory rendered a light-curve with an alternative solution of 7001162954000000000♠16.2954±0.0282 hours, or about half the period previously found, with an amplitude of 0.19 (U=2).
According to the surveys carried out by the international Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), the Japanese Akari satellite, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures between 14.4 and 15.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.20 and 0.22.
The minor planet was named for the Vltava (Moldau), the longest river within the Czech Republic, running through the city of Prague. Naming citation was published on 1 April 1980 (M.P.C. 5283).