978 Aidamina

978 Aidamina, provisional designation 1922 LY, is a large, rare-type asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, about 80 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Soviet–Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula, on 18 May 1922. Twelve nights later, the body was independently discovered by astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg, southern Germany.

The asteroid is the only body classified as a PF-type asteroid in the Tholen taxonomy, a subtype of the dark and reddish P-type asteroids, of which only a few dozens bodies are currently known. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.4–3.9 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,090 days). Its orbit is tilted by 22 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic and shows an eccentricity of 0.23.

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and the U.S. Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its NEOWISE mission, the body has a very low albedo between 0.027 and 0.037. Several photometric light-curve analysis rendered a concurring, well-defined rotation period of 10.1 hours, while another observation resulted in an alternative period of 9.5 hours.

The minor planet was named after a friend of the discoverer's family, Aida Minaevna.

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
• 978 Aidamina at the JPL Small-Body Database

• Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters