1529 Oterma

1529 Oterma, provisional designation 1938 BC, is a reddish Hildian asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, about 60 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland on 26 January 1938.

The asteroid is a member of the Hilda family, a large group that orbits in resonance with the gas giant Jupiter and are thought to have originated from the Kuiper belt. As of 2015, it belongs to an exclusive group of 33 known asteroids with a spectral P-type in the Tholen classification scheme. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.2–4.8 AU once every 7 years and 12 months (2,917 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.20 and is tilted by 9 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. It has a rotation period of 15¾ hours and an albedo of 0.05, based on observation from the Japanese Akari satellite.

It was named after Liisi Oterma (1915–2001), first Finnish female astronomer with a Ph.D. and discoverer of 54 asteroids at the Turku observatory between 1939 and 1953.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 1529 Oterma at the JPL Small-Body Database

• Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters