Discovered by N. Chernykh MPC designation 2995 Taratuta Discovered 31 August 1978 Discoverer Nikolai Chernykh Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 31 August 1978 Minor planet category main-belt · Eunomia Orbits Sun Asteroid family Eunomia family | |
Named after Evgeniya Taratuta
(Soviet writer) Alternative names 1978 QK · 1951 JS
1955 FD2 · 1955 FU
1959 EE Discovery site Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Similar 2577 Litva, Sun, 85 Io | ||
2995 Taratuta, provisional designation 1978 QK, is a stony Eunomian asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 31 August 1978, by Russian astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.
The asteroid is a member of the Eunomia family, a large group of S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,546 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic.of 2.3–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,546 days). Its orbit is tilted by 15 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic and shows an eccentricity of 0.14.
In March 2014, a rotational light-curve was obtained from photometric observations at the U.S. Burleith Observatory in Washington D.C.. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 11.1 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 magnitude (U=3-) A previous fragmentary light-curve obtained by French amateur astronomer Laurent Bernasconi in May 2006, gave a much shorter period of 6.6 hours with an amplitude of 0.06 (U=1).
According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and the Japanese Akari satellite, the asteroid measures 16.6 and 18.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.06 and 0.07, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.09 and a diameter of 16.7 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 12.1
The minor planet was named in honor of Evgeniya Taratuta, Soviet writer and literary scholar. Naming citation was published on 18 September 1986 (M.P.C. 11158).