2754 Efimov

2754 Efimov, provisionally named 1966 PD, is a stony asteroid and binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 August 1966, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.^[6] The asteroid was named after Russian aviator Mikhail Efimov.^[2]

2754 Efimov

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	T. Smirnova
Discovery site	Crimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date	13 August 1966
Designations
MPC designation	(2754) Efimov
Named after	Mikhail Efimov (Russian aviator)[2]
Alternative designations	1966 PD · 1933 WF 1966 RB · 1973 YR1
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner)[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	66.15 yr (24,160 days)
Aphelion	2.7464 AU
Perihelion	1.7085 AU
Semi-major axis	2.2274 AU
Eccentricity	0.2330
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.32 yr (1,214 days)
Mean anomaly	100.35°
Mean motion	0° 17m 47.4s / day
Inclination	5.7096°
Longitude of ascending node	275.17°
Argument of perihelion	91.098°
Known satellites	1[4]
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	4.98 km (derived)[3]
Synodic rotation period	2.44967 h (0.102070 d)[3]
Geometric albedo	0.20 (assumed)[3]
Spectral type	SMASS = Sa[1] · S[3] · L[5]
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.6[1] · 13.92[3]

Orbit and classification

Efimov orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.7–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,214 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Efimov is a Sa-type asteroid, which belong to the larger group of S-type asteroids.^[1] It is also characterized as a L-type asteroid by PanSTARRS photometric survey.^[5]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and derives a diameter of 4.98 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.92.^[3]

Satellite

Efimov is a binary asteroid. In 2006, astronomers discovered a minor-planet moon around Efimov using lightcurve observations, with a diameter of 1.29 kilometers and an orbital period of 14 hours and 46 minutes.^[3][4]

Mikhail Efimov (right) in 1910

Naming

This minor planet named in memory of Russian aviator Mikhail Nikiforovich Efimov (Russian: М. Н. Ефимов; 1881–1919), who was the first to realize steep turns and dives.^[2][7]

The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 31 May 1988 (M.P.C. 13173).^[8]