1049 Gotho

Orbit and classification

Gotho orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,987 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic. First identified as at Heidelberg in February 1906, the body's observation arc begins much later at Johannesburg in 1952, or 27 years after its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Gotho has been characterized as a C-type asteroid.

Lightcurves

In April 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Gotho was obtained by astronomer Kenda Albers at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory, Australia. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 8.470 hours with a brightness variation of 0.17 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Gotho measures between 53.56 and 56.296 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.008 and 0.045 (without preliminary results). The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0469 and a diameter of 51.05 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 10.4.

Naming

For this minor planet, any reference of its name to a person or occurrence is unknown.

Unknown meaning

Among the many thousands of named minor planets, Gotho is one of 120 asteroids, for which no official naming citation has been published. All of these low-numbered asteroids have numbers between and and were discovered between 1876 and the 1930s, predominantly by astronomers Auguste Charlois, Johann Palisa, Max Wolf and Karl Reinmuth.

References