1907 Rudneva


1907 Rudneva, provisional designation, is a stony background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 11 September 1972, by astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after Soviet geodesist and war hero Yevgeniya Rudneva.

Orbit and classification

Rudneva is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.4–2.7 AU once every 4 years and 1 month. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.
The asteroid was first identified as at Johannesburg Observatory in August 1935. The body's observation arc begins with its identification as at Heidelberg Observatory in March 1938, almost 34 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnyj.

Physical characteristics

Rudneva is an assumed stony S-type asteroid.

Rotation period

In April 2003, a fragmentary rotational lightcurve of Rudneva was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 44 hours with a brightness amplitude of at least 0.1 magnitude. As of 2017, no secure period of Rudneva has been obtained.

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Rudneva measures between 10.977 and 11.848 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.18 and 0.232.
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 11.83 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.0.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Ukrainian-born Yevgeniya Rudneva a member of the Astronomical–Geodetical Society of the U.S.S.R., head of the solar department, and Hero of the Soviet Union. She voluntarily joined the army as a navigator in the all-female Night Bombers Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Witches. She died in April 1944, while flying her 645th combat mission. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 February 1976.