1284 Latvia
1284 Latvia, provisional designation, is a rare-type asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 37 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 July 1933, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany, and named after the Republic of Latvia.
Orbit and classification
Latvia orbits the Sun in the middle main-belt at a distance of 2.2–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 4 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.It was first identified as at Moscow Observatory in 1925, and then as at Lowell Observatory in 1931. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1933.
Physical characteristics
Spectral type
Latvia is classified as a rare T and L type asteroid in the Tholen and SMASS taxonomy schemes, respectively. Both indicate a featureless spectra of a dark and reddish body.Rotation period
The current best rated rotational lightcurve of Latvia was obtained by the "Spanish Photometric Asteroid Analysis Group" in September 2015. Lightcurve analysis gave it a rotation period of 9.55 hours with a brightness variation of 0.23 magnitude.Previous photometric observations by James W. Brinsfield at Via Capote Observatory and French amateur astronomer Laurent Bernasconi gave a period of 9.552 and 9.644 hours with an amplitude of 0.10 and 0.21 magnitude, respectively. The first rotational lightcurve obtained by Richard P. Binzel in the 1980s gave a twice a long period solution of 18 hours.