2959 Scholl

Orbit and classification

Scholl is a member of the Hilda family, a large group that orbits in resonance with the gas giant Jupiter and are thought to originate from the Kuiper belt. Scholl orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.9–5.0 AU once every 7 years and 10 months (2,861 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.27 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. On 23 October 1963, the asteroid was first identified as at Crimea–Nauchnij, extending the body's observation arc by 20 years prior to its official discovery observation at Flagstaff.

Physical characteristics

Scholl is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid.

Rotation period

A rotational lightcurve of Scholl was obtained from photometric observations by Swedish, Spanish, Italian and German astronomers. Published in 1998, the fragmentary lightcurve gave a rotation period of 16 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.14 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, Scholl measures between 32.783 and 45.60 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.04 and 0.054.

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.055 and a diameter of 34.15 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.1.

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of German astronomer Hans Scholl (born 1942), who worked at the Astronomical Calculation Institute, Heidelberg, and Côte d'Azur Observatory in Nice, France. He is a co-discoverer of many minor planets and three moons of Uranus.

The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 15 May 1984 (M.P.C. 8802).

References

References

1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2959 Scholl (1983 RE2)". [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]].
2. Schmadel, Lutz D.. (2007). "Dictionary of Minor Planet Names". [[Springer Berlin Heidelberg]].
3. "2959 Scholl (1983 RE2)". Minor Planet Center.
4. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center.
5. (January 2012). "WISE/NEOWISE Observations of the Hilda Population: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal.
6. "LCDB Data for (2959) Scholl". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB).
7. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System.
8. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan.
9. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal.
10. (June 1998). "A Study of Hilda Asteroids. V. Lightcurves of 47 Hilda Asteroids". Icarus.
11. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus.