Discovered by E. W. Elst MPC designation 6267 Rozhen Discovered 20 September 1987 Discoverer Eric Walter Elst Discovery site Rozhen Observatory | Discovery date 20 September 1987 Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Orbits Sun Asteroid family Flora family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Rozhen Observatory
(discovering observatory) Alternative names 1987 SO9 · 1971 SP
1979 BR2 People also search for Sun, 8 Flora, 915 Cosette, 967 Helionape, 3412 Kafka, 428 Monachia | ||
6267 Rozhen, provisional designation 1987 SO9, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 September 1987, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at Rozhen Observatory near Smoljan, Bulgaria. For four days, between 27 and 31 January 2005, the body was briefly and erroneously renamed 6267 Smolyan.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 2 months (1,161 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1949, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 38 years prior to its discovery.
In January 2014, two rotational light-curves for this asteroid were obtained from photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory, California. They rendered a rotation period of 7000398470000000000♠3.9847±0.0007 and 7000398000000000000♠3.980±0.020 hours with a brightness variation of 0.14 and 0.12 in magnitude (U=2/2), respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24, derived from the Flora family's largest member and namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora, and calculates a diameter of 3.0 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 14.77.
The minor planet was named after the discovering Rozhen Observatory, also known as the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory, that has been established at Rozhen in 1981. It is located near the city of Smoljan and in proximity to the border with Greece. At 1700 meters above sea leavel, the observatory benefits from superb instrumental and observational conditions. An exhaustive survey for the discovery of minor planets was launched at Rozhen in 1986. Naming citation was published on 20 November 2002 (M.P.C. 47163).