3822 Segovia

3822 Segovia is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Japanese astronomer Tsutomu Seki at Geisei Observatory in Kōchi, Japan, on 21 February 1988. The presumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 11.0 hours and measures approximately in diameter. It was later named after Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia.

Orbit and classification

The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 5 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first observed as at the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory in 1962, extending the body's observation arc by 26 years prior to its official discovery observation.

Naming

This minor planet was named for world-famous virtuoso classical guitarist Andrés Segovia. In 1959, the discoverer attended one of his concerts in Japan and became inspired to play the guitar. The was published by the Minor Planet Center on 21 April 1989.

Physical characteristics

In March 2016, a rotation period of Segovia was published using 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 period of hours could be obtained for this asteroid from the LPD's sparse-in-time photometry data. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 4.9 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.7.