1683 Castafiore

For the character in The Adventures of Tintin, see Bianca Castafiore.

1683 Castafiore, provisional designation 1950 SL, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 September 1950, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, Belgium, and named after the character Bianca Castafiore from The Adventures of Tintin.^[8]

1683 Castafiore

Shape model of Castafiore from its lightcurve
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	S. Arend
Discovery site	Uccle Obs.
Discovery date	19 September 1950
Designations
MPC designation	(1683) Castafiore
Named after	Bianca Castafiore (fictional character)[2]
Alternative designations	1950 SL · 1936 PH 1949 HA · 1959 TH
Minor planet category	main-belt · (middle)[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	80.55 yr (29,420 days)
Aphelion	3.2165 AU
Perihelion	2.2554 AU
Semi-major axis	2.7360 AU
Eccentricity	0.1756
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.53 yr (1,653 days)
Mean anomaly	331.16°
Mean motion	0° 13m 4.08s / day
Inclination	12.476°
Longitude of ascending node	326.66°
Argument of perihelion	346.87°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	18.42±0.79 km[4] 21.159±0.114[5] 21.403±0.075 km[6] 25.44 km (calculated)[3]
Synodic rotation period	13.931±0.003 h[a]
Geometric albedo	0.057 (assumed)[3] 0.0888±0.0159[6] 0.119±0.017[4] 0.160±0.013[5]
Spectral type	C[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.6[4][6] · 11.66±0.46[7] · 11.7[1][3]

Orbit and classification

The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun in the middle main-belt at a distance of 2.3–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 6 months (1,653 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

Naming

This minor planet was named for Bianca Castafiore, a fictional character in the comic-strip Adventures of Tintin .^[2] On the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, the father of the fictional character, Georges Remi, better known under his pseudonym Hergé, was honoured by the minor planet 1652 Hergé.^[9] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6832).^[10]

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In September 2004, American astronomer Donald P. Pray obtained a rotational lightcurve of Castafiore from photometric observations. It gave a rotation period of 13.931 hours with a brightness variation of 0.66 magnitude (U=2+).^[a]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Castafiore measures 21.15 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.160 (best result only),^[5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057, and calculates a diameter of 25.44 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 11.7.^[3]

Notes

1. Pray (2011): rotation period of 13.931±0.003 hours with an amplitude in brightness of 0.66 in magnitude. Summary figure given at Light curve Database for (1683) Castafiore