1115 Sabauda

Discovery

Sabauda was discovered on 13 December 1928, by Italian astronomer Luigi Volta at the Observatory of Turin (Pino Torinese Observatory). Five nights later, it was independently discovered by Catalan astronomer Josep Comas i Solà at the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, Spain. The asteroid was first identified as at Heidelberg Observatory in December 1906, and its observation arc begins at Heidelberg in January 1929, one month after its official discovery observation at Pino Torinese.

Orbit and classification

Sabauda is a member of the Meliboea family, a smaller asteroid family of carbonaceous outer-belt asteroids with a few hundred members, named after 137 Meliboea. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (1,998 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic.

Physical characteristics

Sabauda is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid, in line with the Meliboea family's overall spectral type.

Rotation period

Several rotational lightcurves of Sabauda were obtained from photometric observations. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period between 6.718 and 6.732 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.16 to 0.27 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Sabauda measures between 67.24 and 75.91 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.04 and 0.0711.

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0496 and a diameter of 68.53 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.7.

Naming

This minor planet bears the Latin name of the former rulers of Italy, the House of Savoy (Sabauda, or Sapauda). It is also possible that it was named after the new established town of Sabauda in the Pontine Marshes, central Italy. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 104).

Notes

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