3412 Kafka

3412 Kafka, provisional designation 1983 AU₂, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 January 1983, by American astronomers Randolph Kirk and Donald Rudy at Palomar Observatory in California, United States.^[5][6] The asteroid was named after writer Franz Kafka.^[2]

3412 Kafka

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	R. Kirk D. Rudy
Discovery site	Palomar Obs.
Discovery date	10 January 1983
Designations
MPC designation	(3412) Kafka
Named after	Franz Kafka (Austrian–Czech writer)[2]
Alternative designations	1983 AU2 · 1942 YB 1977 FF3 · 1978 PA2 1978 QE1
Minor planet category	main-belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	74.42 yr (27,182 days)
Aphelion	2.4565 AU
Perihelion	1.9925 AU
Semi-major axis	2.2245 AU
Eccentricity	0.1043
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.32 yr (1,212 days)
Mean anomaly	194.88°
Inclination	2.9731°
Longitude of ascending node	307.60°
Argument of perihelion	117.70°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	6.084±0.080 km[3]
Synodic rotation period	2766±40 h[4]
Geometric albedo	0.231±0.076[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.4[1]

Orbit and classification

Kafka orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,212 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] It was first identified as 1942 YB at the Finnish Turku Observatory in 1942, extending the body's observation arc by 41 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.^[5]

Physical characteristics

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Kafka measures 6.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.231.^[3] Kafka is a superslow rotator. Its rotation period of 2,766 hours (about 115 days) is among the longest of any known asteroid.^[4][7]

Naming

This minor planet was named after Franz Kafka (1883–1924), Austrian–Czech writer of novels and short stories, in which protagonists are faced with bizarre or surrealistic situations.^[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 13 February 1987 (M.P.C. 11641).^[8]