1910 Mikhailov


1910 Mikhailov, provisional designation, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. Discovered at Nauchnyj in 1972, it was named after Russian astronomer Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikhailov. It has a 3:1 ratio of iron to carbon, hence the name. The asteroid is believed to have been expelled from its parent asteroid belt, and is classified as a metallic asteroid, because its iron is fairly weak.

Discovery

Mikhailov was discovered on 8 October 1972, by Ukrainian astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravleva at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.
Zhuravleva is ranked 61 in Harvard's ranking of those who discovered minor planets. Detween 1972 and 1992, She discovered 200 such bodies, 13 of which were co-discoveries.

Orbit and classification

The C-type asteroid is a non-family asteroid that belongs to the background population of the main belt. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.9–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 4 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.

Physical characteristics

It has a rotation period of 8.88 hours and a low geometric albedo of 0.05.

Naming

The asteroid was named in honor of prominent Russian astronomer Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikhailov, a gravimetrist and academician, who was vice-president of the International Astronomical Union, director of the Pulkovo Observatory, a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and president of its Astronomical Council. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 February 1976.