1771 Makover

1771 Makover, provisional designation 1968 BD, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 50 kilometers in diameter.

1771 Makover

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	L. Chernykh
Discovery site	Crimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date	24 January 1968
Designations
MPC designation	(1771) Makover
Named after	Samuel Makover (astronomer)[2]
Alternative designations	1968 BD · 1937 LM 1938 QJ · 1941 FH 1950 XW · 1952 FU 1958 HF · 1961 XV 1966 UC
Minor planet category	main-belt · (outer) [3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	78.58 yr (28,700 days)
Aphelion	3.6697 AU
Perihelion	2.5742 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1219 AU
Eccentricity	0.1755
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.52 yr (2,015 days)
Mean anomaly	59.003°
Mean motion	0° 10m 43.32s / day
Inclination	11.249°
Longitude of ascending node	86.335°
Argument of perihelion	316.67°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	46.886±0.293 km[4] 51.202±0.294 km[5] 56.59 km (derived)[3] 63.59±19.06 km[6]
Synodic rotation period	11.26±0.01 h[7]
Geometric albedo	0.025±0.019[6] 0.0382 (derived)[3] 0.0614±0.0097[5] 0.072±0.008[4]
Spectral type	C[3][8]
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.1[5] · 10.4[1][3] · 10.59[6] · 10.60±0.27[8]

It was discovered on 24 January 1968, by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on the Crimean peninsula.^[9] It was named after Russian astronomer Samuel Makover.^[2]

Orbit and classification

The dark C-type asteroid orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,015 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] At Johannesburg Observatory, Makover was first identified as 1937 LM in 1937. Its first used observation was made at the same observatory one year later, when it was identified as 1938 QJ, extending the body's observation arc by 30 years prior to its official discovery observation.^[9]

Physical characteristics

In December 2011, a rotational lightcurve of Makover was obtained by astronomer Andrea Ferrero from photometric observation. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 11.26 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 magnitude (U=3).^[7]

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Makover measures between 46.89 and 63.59 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.025 and 0.072.^[4][5][6] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0382 and a diameter of 56.59 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 10.4.^[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Russian astronomer Samuel Gdalevich Makover (1908–1970), who studied extensively the orbit of Encke's Comet (referred to as Comet Encke-Backlund in Russia), and pioneered in the use of electronic calculators for computing planetary perturbations and orbit improvements. He was head of the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics's (ITA) department of minor planets and comets, and editor of the annual volume of Minor Planet Ephemerides. He was also a vice-president of IAU's commission 20, Positions & Motions of Minor Planets, Comets & Satellites, in the 1960s.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 25 September 1971 (M.P.C. 3185).^[10]