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1851 Lacroute
Discovery
Discovered by	L. Boyer
Discovery site	Algiers Obs.
Discovery date	9 November 1950
Designations
MPC designation	(1851) Lacroute
Named after	Pierre Lacroute; (French astronomer)
Alternative designations	1950 VA
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner)
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	66.35 yr (24,236 days)
Aphelion	3.7003 AU
Perihelion	2.5044 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1024 AU
Eccentricity	0.1927
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.46 yr (1,996 days)
Mean anomaly	85.690°
Mean motion	0° 10m 49.44s / day
Inclination	1.6660°
Longitude of ascending node	24.766°
Argument of perihelion	343.20°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	16.89 km (IRAS); 18.158±0.108 km
Geometric albedo	0.049±0.007; 0.0745±0.009 (IRAS)
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.7

1851 Lacroute, provisional designation 1950 VA, is an asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter.

It was discovered on 9 November 1950, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers Observatory in the capital of Algeria, Northern Africa, and named after French astronomer Pierre Lacroute.^[2]^[5]

Orbit and classification

Lacroute orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (1,996 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] As no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, the body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation in 1950.^[5]

Physical characteristics

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Lacroute measures 16.9 and 18.2 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.049 and 0.074, respectively.^[3]^[4] As of 2016, the body's spectral type, as well as its rotation period and shape remain unknown.^[1]^[6]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of French astronomer Pierre Lacroute (1906–1993), a known astrometrist, president of IAU's Commission 24 in the 1970s, and director of the Observatory of Strasbourg, instrumental in the establishment of the Stellar Data Center (also see SIMBAD).^[2]

Lacroute also made an independent reduction of the astrometric star catalogue AGK3, using a technique involving overlapping photographic plates.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 August 1978 (M.P.C. 4419).^[7]