Discovery date 13 September 1982 Alternative names 1982 RA Discovered 13 September 1982 Discovery site Palomar Observatory | MPC designation 3199 Nefertiti Minor planet category Amor · NEO Orbits Sun Asteroid group Amor asteroid | |
Discovered by C. Shoemaker
E. Shoemaker Pronunciation nɛfəˈtiːtɪ (nef-er-TEE-tee) Named after Nefertiti (Egyptian queen) Discoverers Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene Merle Shoemaker Similar Sun, 1580 Betulia, 1627 Ivar, 3908 Nyx, 1980 Tezcatlipoca | ||
3199 Nefertiti (nef-er-TEE-tee), provisional designation 1982 RA, is a rare-type asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Amor group of asteroids, approximately 2.2 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 September 1982, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at Palomar Observatory, California, United States.
Nefertiti orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.1–2.0 AU once every 1 years and 12 months (722 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.28 and an inclination of 33° with respect to the ecliptic. It has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of 0.2167 AU (32,400,000 km), or 84.4 lunar distances. As no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, the body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Palomar in 1982.
In the Tholen and SMASS taxonomy, Nefertiti is a stony S-type and transitional Sq-type, respectively. In addition, its spectral type is also that of a bright and rare K and Q type, according to Spitzer and PanSTARRS. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.326 and a diameter of 2.18 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 15.14.
Several rotational light-curves of Nefertiti have been obtained from photometric observations. In descending order of quality, rotation periods were derived by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec in the 1990s (3.021 hours; Δ0.30 mag; U=3), at the Italian Padova and Catania observatories in February 2003 (3.021 hours; Δ0.19 mag; U=3-), by Polish astronomer Wiesław Z. Wiśniewski in the 1980s (2.82 hours; Δ0.12 mag; U=2), by Finnish physicist Mikko Kaasalainen (3.020167 hours; Δmag n.a.; U=n.a.), and by Harris at JPL/Caltech in the 1980s (3.01 hours; Δ0.1 mag; U=n.a.).
This minor planet was named for the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti (ca. 1370–1330 BC), mother-in-law of pharaoh Tutankhamun and Chief King's Wife of Akhenaten of the 18th dynasty. Nefertiti and her "heretic" husband are believed to be responsible for a religious revolution, creating a new monotheistic religion, in which they only worshiped the sun disc god Aten. Another minor planet, 1068 Nofretete is also named for her, using a different spelling. Naming citation was published on 27 December 1985 (M.P.C. 10311).