1602 Indiana

1602 Indiana, provisional designation 1950 GF, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by the Indiana Asteroid Program at the U.S. Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, on 14 March 1950.

The asteroid is a member of the Flora family, a large group of stony S-type asteroids in the inner main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,229 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.10 and is tilted by 4 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. It has a rotation period of 2.6 hours and a geometric albedo of about 0.25, based on the surveys carried out by the Akari and NEOWISE missions.

The minor planet was named for the U.S. state of Indiana and for Indiana University, the parent institution of the astronomy department and the observatory in which the planet was discovered.

Originally the discovery was credited to Beryl H. Potter (1901–1985), after whom the asteroid 1729 Beryl is named. She was research assistant at the Indiana University, who participated in the program of minor planet observations from 1949 to 1966. During this period, she analysed nearly 6,300 photographic plates, measuring the positions of minor planets and reporting lost asteroids to IAU's Minor Planet Circulars (MPCs) for publication. However, according to Frank K. Edmondson (1912–2008), chairman of the Astronomy Department of Indiana University (also see 1761 Edmondson), there were several assistants involved in blinking the photographic plates during the first years of the program. The discovery was therefore credited to Indiana University, instead.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 1602 Indiana at the JPL Small-Body Database

• Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters