1513 Mátra

1513 Mátra, provisional designation 1940 EB, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 March 1940, by Hungarian astronomer György Kulin at Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary.^[8] It was later named after the Mátra mountain range.^[2]

1513 Mátra

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	G. Kulin
Discovery site	Konkoly Obs.
Discovery date	10 March 1940
Designations
MPC designation	(1513) Matra
Named after	Mátra (mountain range)[2]
Alternative designations	1940 EB · 1940 EO
Minor planet category	main-belt · Flora[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	66.67 yr (24,351 days)
Aphelion	2.4085 AU
Perihelion	1.9763 AU
Semi-major axis	2.1924 AU
Eccentricity	0.0986
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.25 yr (1,186 days)
Mean anomaly	324.55°
Mean motion	0° 18m 12.96s / day
Inclination	3.9773°
Longitude of ascending node	136.22°
Argument of perihelion	27.140°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	4.96±0.70 km[4] 5.19±0.92 km[5] 5.85 km (calculated)[3] 6.603±0.271 km[6]
Synodic rotation period	24 h[7]
Geometric albedo	0.189±0.024[6] 0.24 (assumed)[3] 0.31±0.19[5] 0.34±0.13[4]
Spectral type	S[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.33[1][3][5][6] · 13.43[4]

Orbit and classification

Mátra is a member of the Flora family, a large group of stony S-type asteroids in the inner main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,186 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

One day prior to Mátra's official discovery observation at Konkoly, a precovery was taken at Nice Observatory. However, the body's observation arc begins 10 years later in 1950, when it was observed at the La Plata Observatory in Argentina.^[8]

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

American astronomer Richard P. Binzel obtained a rotational light-curve of Mátra from photometric observation in the 1980s. It gave a tentative rotation period of 24 hours with a brightness variation of 0.1 magnitude (U=1).^[7] As of 2017, a secure period still has yet to be determined.^[3]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Mátra measures between 4.96 and 6.60 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.189 and 0.34.^[4][5][6]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from the family's largest body and namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora – and calculates a diameter of 5.85 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.33.^[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named after the Mátra mountain range in northern Hungary, where the outstation of the discovering Konkoly Observatory is located.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 February 1980 (M.P.C. 5182).^[9]