3412 Kafka
{{Short description|Asteroid}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox planet
| minorplanet = yes
| name = 3412 Kafka
| background = #D6D6D6
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| discovered = 10 January 1983
| discovery_site = Palomar Obs.
| mpc_name = (3412) Kafka
| alt_names = {{mp|1983 AU|2}}{{·}}1942 YB
{{mp|1977 FF|3}}{{·}}{{mp|1978 PA|2}}
{{mp|1978 QE|1}}
| named_after = Franz Kafka
{{small|(Austrian–Czech writer)}}
| mp_category = main-belt
| epoch = 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
| uncertainty = 0
| observation_arc = 74.42 yr (27,182 days)
| aphelion = 2.4565 AU
| perihelion = 1.9925 AU
| semimajor = 2.2245 AU
| eccentricity = 0.1043
| period = 3.32 yr (1,212 days)
| mean_anomaly = 194.88°
| inclination = 2.9731°
| asc_node = 307.60°
| arg_peri = 117.70°
| dimensions = {{val|6.084|0.080}} km
| rotation = {{val|2766|40}} h
| albedo = {{val|0.231|0.076}}
| spectral_type =
}}
3412 Kafka, provisional designation {{mp|1983 AU|2}}, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 January 1983, by American astronomers Randolph Kirk and Donald Rudy at Palomar Observatory in California, United States.{{sfn|Edberg|Levy|1994|p=80}} The asteroid was named after writer Franz Kafka.
Orbit and classification
Kafka orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,212 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as {{mp|1942 YB}} at the Finnish Turku Observatory in 1942, extending the body's observation arc by 41 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.
Physical characteristics
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Kafka measures 6.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.231. Kafka is a superslow rotator. Its rotation period of 2,766 hours (about 115 days) is among the longest of any known asteroid.{{cite journal|title=Discovery of superslow rotating asteroids with ATLAS and ZTF photometry|author1= Erasmus, N.|author2=Kramer, D.|author3=McNeill, A.|author4=Trilling, D. E.|author5=Janse van Rensburg, P.|author6=van Belle, G. T.|author7=Tonry, J. L.|author8=Denneau, L.|author9=Heinze, A.|author10=Weiland, H. J.|arxiv=2106.16066|doi=10.1093/mnras/stab1888|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=506|issue=3|pages=3872–3881|date=September 2021|doi-access= free|bibcode=2021MNRAS.506.3872E}}
Naming
This minor planet was named after Franz Kafka (1883–1924), Austrian–Czech writer of novels and short stories, in which protagonists are faced with bizarre or surrealistic situations. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 13 February 1987 ({{small|M.P.C. 11641}}).
References
{{Reflist| refs =
|type = 2017-06-02 last obs.
|title = JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3412 Kafka (1983 AU2)
|url = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2003412
|publisher = Jet Propulsion Laboratory
|access-date = 17 June 2017}}
|title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (3412) Kafka
|last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D.
|publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg
|page = 284
|date = 2007
|isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3
|doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3412 |chapter = (3412) Kafka }}
|title = 3412 Kafka (1983 AU2)
|work = Minor Planet Center
|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=3412
|access-date = 5 December 2016}}
|title = MPC/MPO/MPS Archive
|work = Minor Planet Center
|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html
|access-date = 5 December 2016}}
|display-authors = 6
|first1 = Joseph R. |last1 = Masiero
|first2 = T. |last2 = Grav
|first3 = A. K. |last3 = Mainzer
|first4 = C. R. |last4 = Nugent
|first5 = J. M. |last5 = Bauer
|first6 = R. |last6 = Stevenson
|first7 = S. |last7 = Sonnett
|date = August 2014
|title = Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos
|journal = The Astrophysical Journal
|volume = 791
|issue = 2
|page = 11
|bibcode = 2014ApJ...791..121M
|doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121
|arxiv = 1406.6645
}}
|title = LCDB Data for (3412) Kafka
|publisher = Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
|url = https://www.minorplanet.info/php/lcdbsummaryquery.php
|access-date = 10 September 2023}} (Enter 3412 as upper and lower range for the asteroid number, then press "submit".)
}}
;Bibliography
- {{cite book
| last1 = Edberg
| first1 = Stephen J.
| last2 = Levy
| first2 = David H.
| title = Observing, Comets, Asteroids, Meteors, and the Zodiacal Light
| year = 1994
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| location = Cambridge
| isbn = 978-0-521-42003-7
}}
External links
- [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/NumberedMPs000001.html Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000)] – Minor Planet Center
- {{AstDys|3412}}
- {{JPL small body}}
{{Franz Kafka}}
{{Minor planets navigator |3411 Debetencourt |number=3412 |3413 Andriana}}
{{Small Solar System bodies}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kafka}}