2678 Aavasaksa

Orbit and classification

The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,240 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.

Aavasaksa was first identified as at Bergedorf Observatory in 1916. Its observation arc begins at Mount Wilson Observatory in 1935, or 3 years prior to its official discovery observation at Turku.

Physical characteristics

In January 2009, a provisional and fragmentary photometric lightcurve of Aavasaksa was obtained at the Via Capote Observatory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave it a longer than average rotation period of 24 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.4 in magnitude ().

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Aavasaksa measures 8.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.28, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24, derived from 8 Flora, the Flora family's largest member and namesake, and calculates a diameter of 8.2 kilometers.

Naming

This minor planet is named after Aavasaksa, a sharp-edged hill in Finnish Lapland, just south of the Arctic Circle. The hill is located in the Tornio River Valley, after which the minor planet 1471 Tornio is named, and is often considered the southernmost point in Finland, where the natural phenomenon of the midnight sun is visible each June. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 May 1983 (M.P.C. 7947).

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