Discovered by R. KirkD. Rudy MPC designation 3412 Kafka Observation arc 73.34 yr (26,786 days) Aphelion 2.46 m Discoverer Randolph L. Kirk Asteroid family Flora family | Discovery date 10 January 1983 Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Discovered 10 January 1983 Orbits Sun | |
Alternative names 1983 AU2 · 1942 YB1977 FF3 · 1978 PA21978 QE1 | ||
3412 Kafka, provisional designation 1983 AU2, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 January 1983, by American astronomers Randolph Kirk and Donald Rudy at Palomar Observatory, California.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,212 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as 1942 YB at the Finnish Turku Observatory in 1942, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 41 years prior to its official discovery observation.
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 6.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.231.
The minor planet was named for Franz Kafka (1883–1924), Austrian–Czech writer of novels and short stories, in which an isolated protagonists has to faced bizarre or surrealistic situations. Naming citation was published on 13 February 1987 (M.P.C. 11641).