This minor planet was named after the medieval city of Ani, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1319. The ruins of the former capital of the Armenian kingdom are located near the border to Armenia, in what is now Turkey. Ani was known as "the city of 1001 churches". The naming was also mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 79).[2]
In May 2018, a rotational lightcurve of Ani was obtained from photometric observations by American amateur astronomer Tom Polakis at the Command Module Observatory (V02) in Arizona . Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 11.174±0.004 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28±0.02magnitude (U=3).[10]
In June 2002, Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory first observed this asteroid and later derived a period of 16.8±0.1 hours and an amplitude of 0.35±0.05 magnitude, based on poor data (U=1).[a] In December 2004, and in May 2007, two periods of 22.850±0.003 h and 22.85±0.05 h with a corresponding amplitude of 0.17±0.01 and 0.38±0.02 magnitude were determined by European astronomers Raymond Poncy (177) as well as Yves Revaz, Raoul Behrend, Alain Klotz, Michel Hernandez, Robert Soubie, Jean-François Gauthier, Bernard Tregon, Pierre Antonini, Laurent Bernasconi, Federico Manzini (A12), Yassine Damerdji and Horacio Correia. The two periods are slightly longer than twice Polakis' period solution (U=2/2−).[14] In April 2007, astronomers at the Oakley Observatory (916), Indiana, obtained a period of 16.72±0.03 hours and an amplitude of 0.32±0.05 magnitude (U=2).[15] In February 2011, French amateur astronomer René Roy determined a period of 12±0.5 hours and a brightness variation of 0.38±0.02 magnitude (U=2).[14]
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, Ani measures (97.87±1.15), (99.799±11.027) and (103.52±1.9) kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of (0.037±0.001), (0.035±0.016) and (0.0329±0.001), respectively.[7][8][9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0329 and a diameter of 103.52 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.25.[11] Alternative mean-diameter measurements published by the WISE team include (82.500±5.957 km), (83.31±21.31 km), (93.29±31.33 km) and (116.865±1.024 km) with corresponding albedos of (0.0518±0.0131), (0.04±0.02), (0.04±0.02) and (0.026±0.003).[4][11] On 7 April 2000, an asteroid occultation of Ani gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of (65.7 km × 103.5 km) with a good quality rating of 3. These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star.[4]
Notes
^Lightcurve plot of (791) Ani, Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2002). Rotation period 16.8±0.1 hours with a brightness amplitude of >0.1 mag, based on a revision from 2011. Quality code is 1. Summary figures at the LCDB.
^ abcdUsui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)