Discovered by N. Chernykh Observation arc 81.08 yr (29,614 days) Orbits Sun Asteroid group Hungaria family | Discovery date 12 March 1975 Discovered 12 March 1975 Discoverer Nikolai Chernykh MPC designation 2577 | |
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Named after Lithuania
(Baltic state) Alternative names 1975 EE3 · 1934 VY
1954 JD · 1976 SA2 Minor planet category Mars-crosser · Hungaria Discovery site Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Similar Solar System, (66063) 1998 RO1, Sun | ||
2577 Litva, provisional designation 1975 EE3, is a Hungarian-type Mars-crosser and rare trinary asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 March 1975, by Soviet–Ukrainian astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.
The E-type asteroid, classified as an EU-subtype in the Tholen taxonomy, is a member of the Hungaria family, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–2.2 AU once every 2 years and 8 months (960 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic. It has a rotation period of 2.813 hours and an assumed, very high albedo of 0.4, which is typical for E-type asteroids of the Hungaria family.
In March 2009 the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams announced the discovery of a moon orbiting the asteroid. The satellite measures about 1.4 kilometer in diameter and orbits Litva at distance of 21 kilometers, with an orbital period of 1 day, 11 hours, and 53 minutes. In 2012, a second satellite orbiting at a distance of 378 kilometers with a diameter of 1.2 kilometers was discovered, with a rotation period of 214 days. The discovery was announced in late 2013. This made 2577 Litva the 11th asteroid discovered to be in a trinary system.
Additional observations in 2014 gave a refined period of 7000281218600000000♠2.812186±0.000005 hours, using a statistical Bayesian inference methodology.
The minor planet was named after the Russian name for the Baltic state Lithuania, former member of the Soviet Union and now an independent Republic. Naming citation was published on 1 December 1982 (M.P.C. 7472).