1851 Lacroute

1851 Lacroute, provisional designation 1950 VA, is an asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter.

1851 Lacroute

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	L. Boyer
Discovery site	Algiers Obs.
Discovery date	9 November 1950
Designations
MPC designation	(1851) Lacroute
Named after	Pierre Lacroute (French astronomer)[2]
Alternative designations	1950 VA
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner)
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	66.35 yr (24,236 days)
Aphelion	3.7003 AU
Perihelion	2.5044 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1024 AU
Eccentricity	0.1927
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.46 yr (1,996 days)
Mean anomaly	85.690°
Mean motion	0° 10m 49.44s / day
Inclination	1.6660°
Longitude of ascending node	24.766°
Argument of perihelion	343.20°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	16.89 km (IRAS)[3] 18.158±0.108 km[4]
Geometric albedo	0.049±0.007[4] 0.0745±0.009 (IRAS)[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.7[1]

It was discovered on 9 November 1950, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers Observatory in the capital of Algeria, Northern Africa, and named after French astronomer Pierre Lacroute.^[2][5]

Orbit and classification

Lacroute orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (1,996 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] As no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, the body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation in 1950.^[5]

Physical characteristics

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Lacroute measures 16.9 and 18.2 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.049 and 0.074, respectively.^[3][4] As of 2016, the body's spectral type, as well as its rotation period and shape remain unknown.^[1][6]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of French astronomer Pierre Lacroute (1906–1993), a known astrometrist, president of IAU's Commission 24 in the 1970s, and director of the Observatory of Strasbourg, instrumental in the establishment of the Stellar Data Center (also see SIMBAD).^[2]

Lacroute also made an independent reduction of the astrometric star catalogue AGK3, using a technique involving overlapping photographic plates.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 August 1978 (M.P.C. 4419).^[7]