3281 Maupertuis

3281 Maupertuis (prov. designation: 1938 DZ) is a bright Vesta asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 24 February 1938, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at the Turku Observatory in southwest Finland.[1] The likely elongated V-type asteroid has a rotation period of 6.7 hours and measures approximately 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) in diameter.[4] It was named after French geodesist and mathematician Pierre Louis Maupertuis.[1]

3281 Maupertuis
Shape model of Maupertuis from its lightcurve
Discovery [1]
Discovered byY. Väisälä
Discovery siteTurku Obs.
Discovery date24 February 1938
Designations
(3281) Maupertuis
Named after
Pierre Louis Maupertuis [1]
(French mathematician)
1938 DZ · 1961 TP
1970 AP · 1979 TV
main-belt [1][2] · (inner)
Vesta [3] · Flora [4]
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc86.03 yr (31,422 d)
Aphelion2.5798 AU
Perihelion2.1203 AU
2.3501 AU
Eccentricity0.0978
3.60 yr (1,316 d)
20.991°
0° 16m 24.96s / day
Inclination5.9904°
348.46°
240.52°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
5.482±0.043 km[5]
5.680±0.031 km[6]
7.14 km (calculated)[4]
6.7295±0.0001 h[7][lower-alpha 1]
6.72984±0.00001 h[8]
0.24 (assumed)[4]
0.4611±0.0450[6]
0.489±0.020[5]
S (assumed)[4]
V (possibly)
12.7[6]
12.9[2][4]
13.11±0.45[9]

    Orbit and classification

    Maupertuis is a member of the Vesta family (401),[3] a giant asteroid family of typically bright V-type asteroids. Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulate eucrites (HED meteorites) and are thought to have originated deep within 4 Vesta's crust, possibly from the Rheasilvia crater, a large impact crater on its southern hemisphere near the South pole, formed as a result of a sub-catastrophic collision. Vesta is the main belt's second-largest and second-most-massive body after Ceres.[10][11] Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Flora family (402), a giant asteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[4]

    It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,316 days; semi-major axis of 2.35 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at the Lowell Observatory in March 1931, or nearly 7 years prior to its official discovery observation at Turku.[1]

    Naming

    This minor planet was named after French geodesist and mathematician Pierre Louis Maupertuis (1698–1759), who was a member of the French Academy of Sciences and chief of the French Geodesic Mission to the Tornio river valley in Lapland, Finland, to conducted the degree measurement of the meridian (1736–1737), which determined that the Earth is oblate rather than prolate (see spheroid), as proposed by his rival Jacques Cassini.[1] The naming was published by the Minor Planet Center on 27 June 1991 (M.P.C. 18451).[12] The lunar crater Maupertuis was also named in his honor.

    Physical characteristics

    Maupertuis is an assumed stony S-type asteroid.[4] Based on its high albedo (see below), and its membership to the Vesta family, it is possibly a V-type asteroid.

    Rotation period and poles

    In March 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Maupertuis was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 6.7295 hours with an exceptionally high brightness amplitude of 1.22 magnitude (U=3), indicative of a strongly elongated shape.[7][lower-alpha 1]

    In March 2016, a second period was published based on data from the Lowell Photometric Database. Using lightcurve inversion and convex shape models, as well as distributed computing power and the help of individual volunteers, a sidereal period of 6.25033±0.00001 hours was derived from the database's sparse-in-time photometry data. Two spin axes at (62.0°, −66.0°) and (231.0°, −74.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β) were also determined.[8]

    Diameter and albedo

    According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Maupertuis measures between 5.482 and 5.680 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.4611 and 0.489.[5][6] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes it to be a Florian asteroid and uses a lower albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the family's parent body – and consequently calculates a somewhat larger diameter of 7.14 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.9.[4]

    Notes
    1. Polar luster diagram of (3281) Maupertuis (diagramme polaire de l'éclat). Summary figures for at the Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR, Raoul Behrend, Geneva Observatory.

    References
    1. "3281 Maupertuis (1938 DZ)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
    2. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3281 Maupertuis (1938 DZ)" (2017-03-31 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
    3. "Asteroid 3281 Maupertuis – Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
    4. "LCDB Data for (3281) Maupertuis". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 14 May 2018.
    5. Masiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121.
    6. Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. (catalog)
    7. Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (3281) Maupertuis". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
    8. Durech, J.; Hanus, J.; Oszkiewicz, D.; Vanco, R. (March 2016). "Asteroid models from the Lowell photometric database". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 587: 6. arXiv:1601.02909. Bibcode:2016A&A...587A..48D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527573.
    9. Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007.
    10. Nesvorný, D.; Broz, M.; Carruba, V. (December 2014). Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families. Asteroids IV. pp. 297–321. arXiv:1502.01628. Bibcode:2015aste.book..297N. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016. ISBN 9780816532131.
    11. Kelley, Michael S.; Vilas, Faith; Gaffey, Michael J.; Abell, Paul A. (September 2003). "Quantified mineralogical evidence for a common origin of 1929 Kollaa with 4 Vesta and the HED meteorites". Icarus. 165 (1): 215–218. Bibcode:2003Icar..165..215K. doi:10.1016/S0019-1035(03)00149-0.
    12. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
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