1216 Askania

1216 Askania, provisional designation 1932 BL, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 29 January 1932, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany.^[10] It was named after the company Askania Werke, a German manufacturer of precision instruments.^[2]

1216 (One after Magna Carta) Askania

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	K. Reinmuth
Discovery site	Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date	29 January 1932
Designations
MPC designation	(1216) Askania
Named after	Askania Werke (German manufacturer)[2]
Alternative designations	1932 BL · 1952 DH 1984 YY6 · A909 GF
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner) Flora[3][4] · background[5]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	110.32 yr (40,295 days)
Aphelion	2.6325 AU
Perihelion	1.8328 AU
Semi-major axis	2.2327 AU
Eccentricity	0.1791
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.34 yr (1,219 days)
Mean anomaly	134.38°
Mean motion	0° 17m 43.44s / day
Inclination	7.5997°
Longitude of ascending node	121.60°
Argument of perihelion	144.64°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	7.21±0.38 km[6] 9.62±2.53 km[7] 10.08±0.54 km[8] 10.533±0.089 km[6]
Synodic rotation period	6.536±0.003 h[9]
Geometric albedo	0.064±0.009[6] 0.070±0.008[8] 0.136±0.014[6] 0.15±0.09[7] 0.24 (assumed)[3]
Spectral type	Tholen = S[1] · S[3] B–V = 0.903[1]
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.49[1][3][6][7][8]

Orbit and classification

Askania orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,219 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] The asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest families in the asteroid belt.^[4][a] Conversely, it is considered a background asteroid when applying the hierarchical clustering method to it proper orbital elements.^[5]

The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1932. In July 1906, a first precovery was taken at the Lowell Observatory, and in April 1909, the asteroid was first identified at the discovering observatory as A909 GF.^[10]

Naming

The minor planet was named after "Askania Werke AG", a manufacturer of optical and astronomical instruments in Berlin (also see Cinetheodolite).^[1] The company went on to develop the auto pilot of the V-1 bomb in the following years.^[11] The official naming citation was published by Paul Herget in The Names of the Minor Planets in 1955 (H 112).^[2]

Physical characteristics

In the Tholen classification, Askania is a common stony S-type asteroid.^[1]

Lightcurves

Lightcurve observations of Askania at the Menke Observatory in July 2006, show a well-defined periodicity of 6.536 hours, during which time the brightness of the body varies by 0.30 magnitude (U=3-).^[9]

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Askania measures between 7.21 and 10.533 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.064 and 0.15.^[6][7][8]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, an stony asteroid and largest member and namesake of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 5.44 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.49.^[3][a]

Notes

1. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link groups any asteroid into the Flora family that has a semi-major axis, inclination and eccentricity in the following ranges: 2.15 < a < 2.35; 0.03 < e < 0.23: 1.5 < i < 8. However, modern synthetic clustering models exclude (1216) Askania from the Flora family, see AstDyS-2 and Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0.