1936 Lugano


1936 Lugano, provisional designation, is a carbonaceous Adeonian asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 26 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 24 November 1973, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland. It was later named for the Swiss city of Lugano.

Classification and orbit

Lugano is a member of the Adeona family, a large family of carbonaceous asteroids.
It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.3–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 5 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as at Johannesburg Observatory in 1936. The body's observation arc begins 22 years prior to its official discovery observation at Zimmerwald, when it was identified as at McDonald Observatory in 1951.

Physical characteristics

Spectral type

In the SMASS classification, Lugano is a Ch-subtype, a hydrated C-type asteroid, while the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer rates it as a very dark and featureless reddish P-type asteroid.

Diameter and albedo

According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope, Lugano measures between 23.48 and 33.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo in the range of 0.028 to 0.1042.
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.056 and a diameter of 24.6 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 11.8.

Lightcurves

Two rotational lightcurves of Lugano were obtained from photometric observations made in February 2005. The first lightcurve by French astronomer Raymond Poncy gave a rotation period of hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 magnitude. The second lightcurve from the U.S. Carbuncle Hill Observatory, Rhode Island, rendered a well-defined period of with an amplitude of 0.31 in magnitude.

Naming

The minor planet is named after the Swiss-Italian city of Lugano, located south of the Alps and known for its mild climate. During the winter half-year of 1973/74, Paul Wild discovered three more asteroids, 1935 Lucerna, 1937 Locarno and 1938 Lausanna, which he named after the Swiss cities Lucerne, Locarno and Lausanne, respectively, composing a quartet of sequentially numbered, thematically named asteroids. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 April 1978.