1258 Sicilia

1258 Sicilia, provisional designation 1932 PG, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 44 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 August 1932, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after the Italian island of Sicily. == Orbit and classification == Sicilia is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 3.0–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,076 days; semi-major axis of 3.19 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1932. == Physical characteristics == Sicilia is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid. === Rotation period === In May 2010, a first rotational lightcurve of Sicilia was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory (E09) in Australia. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 13.500 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.19 magnitude (U=3-). === Diameter and albedo === According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, Sicilia measures between 36.83 and 52.529 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0369 and 0.07. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link largely agrees with IRAS and derives an albedo of 0.0470 and a diameter of 44.39 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.7. == Naming == This minor planet was named after the Italian island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 116). == References == == External links == Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine) Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR Archived 29 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center 1258 Sicilia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info 1258 Sicilia at the JPL Small-Body Database