15811 Nüsslein-Volhard
{{Short description|Asteroid}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox planet
| minorplanet = yes
| label_width = 9em
| name = 15811 Nüsslein-Volhard
| background = #D6D6D6
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| discovered = 10 July 1994
| discoverer = F. Börngen
| discovery_site = Karl Schwarzschild Obs.
| mpc_name = {{nowrap|(15811) Nüsslein-Volhard}}
| alt_names = {{mp|1994 ND|1}}{{·}}{{mp|1955 SX|1}}
{{mp|1988 PY|2}}{{·}}{{mp|1989 SG|7}}
| named_after = {{small|Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard}}
{{small|(biologist, Nobelist)}}
| mp_category = main-belt{{·}}{{small|(outer)}}
background
| epoch = 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
| uncertainty = 0
| observation_arc = 60.87 yr (22,232 days)
| aphelion = 3.7344 AU
| perihelion = 2.6737 AU
| semimajor = 3.2041 AU
| eccentricity = 0.1655
| period = 5.74 yr (2,095 days)
| mean_anomaly = 0.3974°
| mean_motion = {{Deg2DMS|0.1719|sup=ms}} / day
| inclination = 9.6131°
| asc_node = 225.54°
| arg_peri = 74.845°
| dimensions = {{val|15.520|0.133}}
{{val|16.17|1.4}} km {{small|(IRAS:2)}}
| rotation =
| albedo = {{val|0.0617|0.013}} {{small|(IRAS:2)}}
{{val|0.067|0.007}}
| spectral_type =
}}
15811 Nüsslein-Volhard, provisional designation {{mp|1994 ND|1}}, is a dark background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 July 1994, by German astronomer Freimut Börngen at the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory in Tautenburg, Germany. It was named for Nobelist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard.
Orbit and classification
Nüsslein-Volhard orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,095 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.
The asteroid's observation arc begins 39 years prior to its official discovery observation, with its first identification as {{mp|1955 SX|1}} at the Goethe Link Observatory in September 1955.
Physical characteristics
According to the observations made by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Nüsslein-Volhard measures 15.2 and 16.2 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.062 and 0.067, respectively. A low albedo of 0.06 is typical for carbonaceous asteroids.
= Lightcurve =
As of 2017, Nüsslein-Volhard{{'}}s actual composition, rotation period and shape remain unknown.
Naming
This minor planet was named after Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (born 1942), a German biologist who, together with Eric Wieschaus and Edward Lewis, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995. Her research identified the genes controlling the embryonic development for the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 May 2002 ({{small|M.P.C. 45748}}).
References
{{reflist|30em|refs=
|type = 2016-08-03 last obs.
|title = JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 15811 Nusslein-Volhard (1994 ND1)
|url = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2015811
|publisher = Jet Propulsion Laboratory
|access-date = 26 June 2017}}
|title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (15811) Nüsslein-Volhard
|last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D.
|publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg
|page = 828
|date = 2007
|isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3
|doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_9194 |chapter = (15811) Nüsslein-Volhard }}
|title = 15811 Nusslein-Volhard (1994 ND1)
|work = Minor Planet Center
|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=15811
|access-date = 5 April 2016}}
|title = MPC/MPO/MPS Archive
|work = Minor Planet Center
|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html
|access-date = 20 May 2016}}
|display-authors = 6
|first1 = Joseph R. |last1 = Masiero
|first2 = A. K. |last2 = Mainzer
|first3 = T. |last3 = Grav
|first4 = J. M. |last4 = Bauer
|first5 = R. M. |last5 = Cutri
|first6 = J. |last6 = Dailey
|first7 = P. R. M. |last7 = Eisenhardt
|first8 = R. S. |last8 = McMillan
|first9 = T. B. |last9 = Spahr
|first10 = M. F. |last10 = Skrutskie
|first11 = D. |last11 = Tholen
|first12 = R. G. |last12 = Walker
|first13 = E. L. |last13 = Wright
|first14 = E. |last14 = DeBaun
|first15 = D. |last15 = Elsbury
|first16 = T. IV |last16 = Gautier
|first17 = S. |last17 = Gomillion
|first18 = A. |last18 = Wilkins
|date = November 2011
|title = Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters
|url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2011ApJ...741...68M
|journal = The Astrophysical Journal
|volume = 741
|issue = 2
|page = 20
|bibcode = 2011ApJ...741...68M
|doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68
|arxiv = 1109.4096
|access-date= 3 December 2016}}
|title = LCDB Data for (15811) Nüsslein-Volhard
|publisher = Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
|url = http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/generateOneAsteroidInfo.php?AstInfo=15811%7CNüsslein-Volhard
|access-date = 26 June 2017}}
}}
External links
- [http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/lcdbsummaryquery.php Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)], query form ([http://www.minorplanet.info/lightcurvedatabase.html info] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216050541/http://www.minorplanet.info/lightcurvedatabase.html |date=16 December 2017 }})
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&pg Dictionary of Minor Planet Names], Google books
- [http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR] – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- [https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/NumberedMPs015001.html Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (15001)-(20000)] – Minor Planet Center
- {{AstDys|15811}}
- {{JPL small body}}
{{Minor planets navigator |15810 Arawn |number=15811 |15817 Lucianotesi|}}
{{Small Solar System bodies}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nusslein-Volhard}}