1219 Britta

1219 Britta, provisional designation 1932 CJ, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers (7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 6 February 1932, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southern Germany.^[1] The likely elongated S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 5.57 hours.^[4] Any reference of its name to a person is unknown.^[2]

1219 Britta

Shape model of Britta from its lightcurve
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	M. F. Wolf
Discovery site	Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date	6 February 1932
Designations
MPC designation	(1219) Britta
Named after	unknown[2]
Alternative designations	1932 CJ · 1947 XG 1975 FE · A904 SB A915 BD
Minor planet category	main-belt[1][3] · (inner) Flora[4] · background[5]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	113.51 yr (41,461 d)
Aphelion	2.4883 AU
Perihelion	1.9390 AU
Semi-major axis	2.2136 AU
Eccentricity	0.1241
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.29 yr (1,203 d)
Mean anomaly	131.11°
Mean motion	0° 17m 57.48s / day
Inclination	4.4135°
Longitude of ascending node	42.543°
Argument of perihelion	23.720°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	9.86±0.34 km[6] 11.43±0.9 km[7] 11.76±0.30 km[8]
Synodic rotation period	5.573±0.001 h[9] 5.574±0.003 h[10] 5.5750±0.0005 h[11] 5.575±0.001 h[12] 5.575 h[13] 5.575 h[14] 5.57556±0.00001 h[15] 5.57557±0.00002 h[16]
Geometric albedo	0.223±0.013[8] 0.2267±0.040[7] 0.2629 (derived)[4] 0.346±0.041[6]
Spectral type	S (S3OS2)[17] B–V = 0.913[3] U–B = 0.514[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.7[3] 11.80[4][6] 11.94[7][8]

Orbit and classification

Britta is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.^[5] Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Flora family (402), a giant asteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.^[4]

It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,203 days; semi-major axis of 2.21 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.^[3]

The asteroid was first observed as A904 SB at Heidelberg Observatory in September 1904. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in February 1932.^[1]

Naming

This minor planet is named after a common German female name. Any reference of this name to a person or occurrence is unknown.^[2]

Unknown meaning

Among the many thousands of named minor planets, Britta is one of 120 asteroids, for which no official naming citation has been published. All of these low-numbered asteroids have numbers between 164 Eva and 1514 Ricouxa and were discovered between 1876 and the 1930s, predominantly by astronomers Auguste Charlois, Johann Palisa, Max Wolf and Karl Reinmuth.^[18]

Physical characteristics

Britta has been characterized as a stony S-type asteroid in both the Tholen- and SMASS-like taxonomy of the Small Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey (S3OS2).^[17]

Rotation period

Several rotational lightcurves^[a] of Britta have been obtained from photometric observations since the 1980s.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]} The consolidated lightcurve analysis results give a rotation period of 5.575 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.48 and 0.75 magnitude, indicative of an elongated shape (U=3).^[4]

Spin axis

Modeled photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database (LPD) and the robotic BlueEye600 Observatory, gave a concurring period of 5.57556 and 5.57557 hours, respectively.^[15][16] Both studies determined two spin axes of (72.0°, −66.0°) and (241.0°, −66.0°), as well as (61.0°, −2.0°) and (223.0°, −68.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β).^[15][16]

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Britta measures between 9.860 and 11.76 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.223 and 0.346.^[6][7][8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.2629 and a diameter of 11.31 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.8.^[4]

Notes

1. Lightcurve plot of (1219) Britta by R. D. Stephens (2014): rotation period 5.573±0.001 hours. 474 data points. Quality Code of 3. Summary figures at the LCDB and Center for Solar System Studies – CS3 Lightcurves Page