737 Arequipa
737 Arequipa is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered by American astronomer Joel Hastings Metcalf on 7 December 1912 from Winchester, Massachusetts. This stony S-type asteroid was named after the Peruvian city of Arequipa, where Harvard's Boyden Observatory was located prior to 1927. It is orbiting at a distance of 2.59 AU from the Sun, with an orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.245 and a period of 4.17 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 12.4° to the ecliptic.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Joel Hastings Metcalf |
| Discovery site | Winchester, Massachusetts |
| Discovery date | 7 December 1912 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | (737) Arequipa |
Alternative designations | 1912 QB |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 100.96 yr (36874 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.2248 AU (482.42 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 1.9562 AU (292.64 Gm) |
Semi-major axis | 2.5905 AU (387.53 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.24485 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 4.17 yr (1,522.9 d) |
Mean anomaly | 24.8306° |
Mean motion | 0° 14m 11.004s / day |
| Inclination | 12.368° |
Longitude of ascending node | 184.672° |
| 134.348° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 22.035±0.7 km |
Synodic rotation period | 7.0259 h (0.29275 d) |
| 0.2723±0.018 | |
| S | |
| 8.81 | |
The rotation period of this asteroid has proven to be a challenge to determine, most likely because it has a complex shape and a rotation axis with a low inclination. However, during the 2015 apparition, photometric measurements of the asteroid were taken from close to the equatorial perspective. The resulting light curve displayed a rotation period of 7.0259±0.0003 h.