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9344 Klopstock
Discovery
Discovered by	F. Börngen; L. D. Schmadel
Discovery site	Karl Schwarzschild Obs.
Discovery date	12 September 1991
Designations
MPC designation	(9344) Klopstock
Named after	Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (German poet)
Alternative designations	1991 RB4 · 1995 WK2
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner); background · Vestian
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	26.35 yr (9,626 d)
Aphelion	2.5711 AU
Perihelion	2.1575 AU
Semi-major axis	2.3643 AU
Eccentricity	0.0875
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.64 yr (1,328 d)
Mean anomaly	342.64°
Mean motion	0° 16m 15.96s / day
Inclination	5.0293°
Longitude of ascending node	340.39°
Argument of perihelion	156.40°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	3.66 km (calculated); 17.05±1.5 km
Synodic rotation period	5.842±0.0031 h
Geometric albedo	0.0116±0.002; 0.20 (assumed)
Spectral type	S (assumed)
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.095±0.003 (R); 14.2; 14.55; 14.86±0.14

9344 Klopstock, provisional designation 1991 RB₄, is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 12 September 1991, by German astronomers Freimut Börngen and Lutz Schmadel at the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory in Tautenburg, Germany. Poor observational data suggests that the asteroid is one of the darkest known objects with a diameter of approximately 17 kilometers (11 miles), while it is also an assumed stony asteroid with a much smaller diameter. It has a rotation period of 5.84 hours and was named after German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock.^[1]^[2]^[4]

Orbit and classification

Klopstock is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.^[3] Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Vesta family (401), one of the largest asteroid families of bright asteroids in the main-belt.^[4]

It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,328 days; semi-major axis of 2.36 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.^[2] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Tautenburg in September 1991.^[1]

Physical characteristics

Klopstock is an assumed, stony S-type asteroid,^[4] a spectral type contrary to the outstandingly low IRAS albedo (see below).

Rotation period

In September 2013, a rotational lightcurve of Klopstock was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 5.842 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.38 magnitude (U=2).^[6]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) in the 1980s, Klopstock measures 17.05 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an exceptionally low albedo of 0.0116.^[5] This would make it one of the darkest asteroid known to exist.^[8] However, the result is derived from two IRAS-observations only.^[5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link disregards the IRAS-data and assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and consequently calculates a smaller diameter of 3.66 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 14.55.^[4]

Naming

This minor planet was named after German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), an important figure in the literary style called Empfindsamkeit.^[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 February 1999 (M.P.C. 33795).^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "9344 Klopstock (1991 RB4)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 9344 Klopstock (1991 RB4)" (2018-01-19 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Asteroid 9344 Klopstock – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "LCDB Data for (9344) Klopstock". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 29 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75.
^ Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007.
^ "JPL Small-Body Database Search Engine: albedo < 0.02". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 29 April 2018.