Discovered by A. Mrkos MPC designation 7742 Altamira Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Absolute magnitude 13.8 Discoverer Antonín Mrkos Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 20 October 1985 Alternative names 1985 US · 1996 BP2 Discovered 20 October 1985 Orbits Sun Discovery site Kleť Observatory | |
Named after Cave of Altamira
(World Heritage Site) People also search for 5026 Martes, 5797 Bivoj, Sun, 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková | ||
7742 Altamira, provisional designation 1985 US, is a potentially rare-type asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, about 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Czech astronomer Antonín Mrkos at the South Bohemian Kleť Observatory in the Czech Republic, on 20 October 1985.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.5–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 6 months (1,639 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. It is one of the rare cases where the discovery observations are not part of the asteroid's observation arc, which starts in 1988, 3 years after it has already been discovered.
In January 2014, a rotational light-curve was obtained from photometric observation at the U.S Palomar Transient Factory, California. It gave a rotation period of 7000270000000000000♠2.7±0.010 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.11 in magnitude (U=2).
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 6.5 kilometers in diameter, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) calculates a larger diameter of 8.7 kilometers. The body's spectral type is still ambiguous: It has a rare L-type spectrum based on observations by Pan-STARRS (PS1), CALL classifies the body as a dark C-type and assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057, while NEOWISE finds a much higher albedo of 0.18, which is rather typical for S-type asteroids.
The minor planet is named after the famous Cave of Altamira, located in northern Spain. Discovered in 1879, its prehistoric cave paintings feature drawings of wild bison, deer, horses and boar, as well as handprints of the artists who created them. The cave with its paintings has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The asteroid's name was proposed by Czech astronomer Miloš Tichý. Naming citation was published on 24 June 2002 (M.P.C. 46008).