2296 Kugultinov

2296 Kugultinov, provisional designation 1975 BA₁, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter.

2296 Kugultinov

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	L. Chernykh
Discovery site	Crimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date	18 January 1975
Designations
MPC designation	(2296) Kugultinov
Named after	David Kugultinov (Soviet poet)[2]
Alternative designations	1975 BA1 · 1941 FM 1958 DF · 1975 CE 1978 RM1
Minor planet category	main-belt · Themis[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	75.44 yr (27,556 days)
Aphelion	3.7113 AU
Perihelion	2.6512 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1813 AU
Eccentricity	0.1666
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.67 yr (2,073 days)
Mean anomaly	180.53°
Mean motion	0° 10m 25.32s / day
Inclination	1.2545°
Longitude of ascending node	42.238°
Argument of perihelion	100.14°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	15.10±4.45 km[4] 20.51 km (calculated)[3] 21.07±1.77 km[5] 21.566±0.067 km[6][7]
Synodic rotation period	8.43±0.02 h[8] 10 h[9] 16.850±0.004 h[10]
Geometric albedo	0.08 (assumed)[3] 0.083±0.004[6][7] 0.120±0.021[5] 0.12±0.06[4]
Spectral type	C[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.3[5] · 11.6[6] · 11.7[1][3] · 11.77±0.23[11] · 1.80[3] · 11.94[4]

It was discovered on 18 January 1975, by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory on the Crimean peninsula in Nauchnyj, and named after Soviet poet David Nikitich Kugultinov.^[2][12]

Classification and orbit

Kugultinov is a carbonaceous C-type asteroid and member of the Themis family, a dynamical family of outer-belt asteroids with nearly coplanar ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,073 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and the Japanese Akari satellite, Kugultinov measures between 15.10 and 21.566 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.083 and 0.12.^[4][5][6][7] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 20.51 kilometers based an absolute magnitude of 11.8.^[3]

Lightcurves

Three different rotational lightcurves of Kugultinov were obtain from photometric observations. The first, fragmentary lightcurve by Roberto Crippa and Federico Manzini in December 2013, gave a rotation period of 10 hours with a brightness variation of 0.03 magnitude (U=1).^[9] In April 2015, the result was superseded by observations made by Kim Lang at the Klokkerholm Observatory in Denmark,^[a] and by a team at the U.S. University of Maryland using the iTelescope network,^[b] obtaining a period of 16.850 (U=2) and 8.4332±0.0224 hours (U=2+) with an amplitude of 0.23 and 0.19, respectively.^[8][10] CALL considers the shorter period solution the better result.^[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named after David Nikitich Kugultinov (1922–2006), prominent Soviet poet and national poet of the Republic of Kalmykia (also see 2287 Kalmykia).^[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 December 1990 (M.P.C. 17465).^[13]

Notes

1. The minor planet 2296 Kugultinov was observed on 13 nights between 2015 March 13 and April 21. The analysis yielded a synodic period of rotation of P = 16.850 ± 0.004 h and amplitude of A = 0.23 mag. This result is in disagreement with a previously reported period of P = 10.41 h.
2. Photometric observations of main-belt asteroid 2296 Kugultinov were made over a period of five nights spanning 2015 March 27 to April 20. The measured rotation period is 8.4332 ± 0.0224 h.